
Class RX&£ 

Book 

Copyright N?. . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Trials and Triumphs 

of 

A Young Preacher 

WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES 



By REV. E. Gf KILGORE 

Teacher, Pastor, Evangelist 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



Nashville, Tenn.; Dallas, Tex. 
Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South 
Smith & Lamar, Agents 
1908 






^ 



IONGRESS 
pies Received 

IViAR 5 1909 

^ Copyrignt Entry 
CLASS C*^ AXc, Ho 
COPT 3. I 



Copyright, 1908, 

BY 

E. G. Kilgore. 



DEDICATION. 

To the ministers and members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, who have in so many ways 
been helpful to me in my Christian life during all these 
years of "trials and triumphs," and to whom I am due 
a debt of gratitude I shall never be able to pay in this 
life, this volume is most respectfully and affectionate- 
ly inscribed. E. G. Kilgore. 

(3) 



PREFACE. 

While waiting at the bedside of my sick wife day 
and night through many long months it occurred to my 
mind that, as I could not get out to do any work in my 
loved employ, I might spend the spare moments in jot- 
ting down some notes of my past life, which might be 
appreciated by my children, if no one else would be 
benefited by them; but the work was made such a 
blessing to me — in thus living my life over again — that 
I decided that if these notes could be put into book form 
and given to the public some might be profited by my 
mistakes as well as encouraged bv the limited success 
that the Lord has given me in his work. And I now 
send it forth, feeling assured that if the reader gets 
out of these pages approximately the good that the 
writer got in preparing them the end for which the 
book is published will be fully accomplished. My 
prayers will go with it on its journeys. 

E. G. Kilgore. 
(5) 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

In this volume the reader has presented to him the 
experiences of thirty-five years in the Christian minis- 
try. Sixteen years of this time have been spent in the 
regular pastorate, fourteen years in evangelistic work, 
and the remaining five years at the bedside of the sick 
— most of the time. During all this time I have 
traveled more than a hundred thousand miles in as 
many as twenty-eight States and Territories, with vis- 
its to the Republic of Mexico and the District of Co- 
lumbia. I have held revival meetings definitely in 
twenty of these States, in which more than ten thou- 
sand conversions have been reported, with upward of 
eight thousand additions to the Church. It has not all 
been smooth sailing by any means. There has been a 
recurrence of calm and storm, sunshine and shadow, 
grief and joy, pain and pleasure, hardships and happi- 
ness. "The rain descended, and the floods came, and 
the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell 
not : for it was founded upon a rock." 

(7) 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

I. Family and Birth n 

II. The War 14 

III. Other Sources of Supply 17 

IV. Clothing 20 

V. Other Work 23 

VI. Corn-Shuckings and Quiltings 26 

VII. Some Tragedies 28 

VIII. Whisky and Debauchery 31 

IX. First Year from Home 33 

X. Second Year Away from Home 35 

XI. Vacillations 40 

XII. Temperance Movement 45 

XIII. The Sunday School 47 

XIV. The Camp Meeting 50 

XV. An Incident 52 

XVI. Backsliding 55 

XVII. Reclamation 58 

XVIII. Escape from Ruin 62 

XIX. Call to Preach 66 

XX. My First Sermon 72 

XXI. Filling a Pastor's Appointment 76 

XXII. Plagiarism and Imitation S2 

XXIII. School Days 86 

XXIV. The Young Preacher 8o 

XXV. My First Meeting 92 

XXVI. Conference 98 

XXVII. The Circuit Rider 102 

XXVIII. My Second Year in Conference no 

XXIX. A Remarkable Meeting 116 

XXX. Sent to Buena Vista 121 

XXXI. Buena Vista Again 128 

XXXII. The General Conference and Else 133 

(9) 



io Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, 

PAGE. 

XXXIII. Entering upon the Sixth Year in the Ministry. 136 

XXXIV. Open Doors 141 

XXXV. Revival at Home 146 

XXXVI. West Point and Tibbee 149 

XXXVII. West Point and Tibbee (Continued) 154 

XXXVIII. Conference Again 157 

XXXIX. Sickness 163 

XL. At Work Again 169 

XLI. First Visit to the West 176 

XLII. Jonesboro Revival 182 

XLIII. At Black Hawk 188 

XLIV. Trip to California. 193 

XLV. Additional Revivals 210 

XLVI. In the Delta 216 

XLVII. Jonesboro Station 221 

XLVIII. Cape Girardeau 231 

XLIX. Serious Sickness and More Work. 236 

L. More Meetings 243 

LI. The Work Multiplies 253 

LII. Sanctification 259 

LIII. Work in Tennessee 268 

LIV. Conference at Jonesboro 278 

LV. St. Louis and Elsewhere 285 

LVI. In Northern Missouri 298 

LVII. The Greenville Meeting , 311 

LVIII. Nebraska City and East Texas 321 

LIX. Move to Greenville, Tex 332 

LX. Kansas Camp Meetings 338 

LXI. Revivals in 1896 356 

LXII. More Revivals in 1896 368 

LXIII. Indian Territory and Oklahoma ,. 382 

LXIV. In Texas and Arkansas Again 387 

LXV. Visits to East Texas and South Carolina 400 

LXVI. Many Changes 408 

LXVII. To Florida Again 413 

LXVIII. Two Years at Pleasant Garden and King's 

Mountain 417 



TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF A 
YOUNG PREACHER. 



CHAPTER I. 
Family and Birth. 

The writer of these pages was born in Calhoun 
County, Miss., November 30, 1856. My father and 
mother were natives of Darlington County, S. C, 
where they grew up together in the Hartsville neigh- 
borhood, and were married in 1838. A little more than 
a year later they moved, with a large number of others, 
to the above-named State and county, where they lived 
the remainder of their lives. 

My mother's maiden name was Huldah Hay. Her 
people all remained in the old State, except one sister, 
Mrs. Cruthirds, who accompanied her to this new 
country, and reared an interesting family here. 
Father's people, including his father, mother, five 
brothers, and one sister, all came with him and settled 
in the same community, only one sister being left in 
South Carolina. They were farmers and mechanics. 
The long journey from South Carolina was made 
through the country in wagons, and required six weeks 
to make the trip. There were no railroads then. They 
reached Mississippi in the early spring, and struck 
camp in a great forest of trees, at least three miles 
from the nearest white settlement. Before they had 

(11) 



12 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

time to build a shelter of any kind it began to rain, and 
continued raining incessantly for three days and nights. 
They had only their wagon sheets and such other 
things as could be provided for shelter. No doubt some 
of them, if not all, had a good case of the blues, if 
people then were like they are now. The rain finally 
ceased, the clouds rolled away, and it was but a little 
while until they had built shelters, then houses, and 
were soon comfortably quartered in their new home. 

My father soon moved to himself; but he cleared 
land and built houses on two or three places before he 
settled permanently, and had thus done a great deal of 
hard, heavy work. When he selected for himself a 
permanent home, it was but a short while before he 
had opened a little farm of probably forty acres and 
built houses needed to begin with. When I try to 
picture to my mind the old home, I see a large, single 
log room, without side room or veranda, fronting the 
road on the north, with the kitchen, with puncheon 
floor, at least thirty feet to the south; a smokehouse 
a few feet southeast of this; a barn with stalls for 
stock, wagon shelters, etc., sixty yards southwest from 
the other buildings. The spring from which water was 
brought for all purposes was located at least two hun- 
dred yards west from the dwelling. The cleared land 
was cut up into six- and twelve-acre blocks by cross 
fences for pasturage as well as other convenient farm- 
ing purposes. Other improvements had been planned 
which would have rendered the home much more at- 
tractive and comfortable ; but father died before these 
plans could be executed. I have given this descrip- 
tion of the old home here that the reader may form 
some idea of the amount of work required to accom- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 13 

plish all this — beginning in the woods, in a heavily 
timbered country, where there was not a stick amiss, 
and no one to help but a hired hand, and many other 
demands on them incident to a home where there was 
a large family. 

When father died, mother was left with seven chil- 
dren to rear — three girls and four boys — and the eld- 
est son only nine years old. Two children had pre- 
ceded him to the good world, and one followed soon 
after, thus leaving the seven. I was the youngest, and 
never saw my father. But as father had been able to 
gather about him a good supply of stock — such as 
horses, cattle, hogs, sheep — and other things needed on 
a farm, mother was able to keep things going for a 
time, though she had had no experience in outside 
work; and, too, it seemed that everything worked 
against her, as will be seen in some future chapters. 
Father and mother were both Christians, and Metho- 
dists, and mother lived to see every child she had 
reared in her own Church and working for Christ and 
his cause. I was a preacher eight years before she 
died. But there were many things to be recorded be- 
fore the above results of her life and teaching could 
be accomplished. All this succession of events, fre- 
quently full of affliction and disappointment, could nev- 
er erase from the minds of the older children the in- 
fluences of the family altar, with its morning and even- 
ing devotion, as practiced by my father, or the deep 
piety of my mother. Still the whole country became 
greatly demoralized, as will be shown hereafter. 



CHAPTER II. 
The War. 

As may be noted from the dates given in our chap- 
ter on "Family and Birth/' my father had been dead 
only five and a half years when the War between the 
States was declared. Then followed that great strife 
which left this whole country, especially our beloved 
Southland, in a state of destitution and ruin. Our 
fields and orchards were stripped of all fruitage, our 
horses were taken, our cattle and hogs and other stock 
were driven off, and many of our homes were plun- 
dered and robbed. Thus many — I might say a major- 
ity — of our people were left in the most abject poverty, 
and that, too, when those upon whom we depended 
most were away from their homes and families, fight- 
ing for what they believed to be their rights. There 
were none who realized more keenly the effects of all 
this than the widows and orphan children already 
in the land. Although I was only a small child, from 
five to nine years old, during this awful struggle, still 
I can now recall very vividly and painfully some of the 
sad and trying experiences that came to our home. 

Mother had moved along as well as could have been 
expected, I presume, until these troubles came; but 
after this it was a great struggle with her all the time 
to provide for her children. Often there was nothing 
to sustain life but dry bread, simply made up with clear 
water, with no seasoning of any sort. If we had salt 

(14) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 15 

for anything, we frequently had to resort to digging up 
the smokehouse or the old cow lick in the field, and 
take the dirt thus secured and carry it through a proc- 
ess similar to that of making soap to obtain this neces- 
sary commodity. And referring back to the question 
of bread, it was not unfrequent that the corn of which 
our bread was made had to be ground in the steel 
mill. This was a mill that was operated by hand simi- 
lar to a coffee mill. Many a time I have gone with my 
mother or sisters to a steel mill owned by a neighbor 
of ours late in the evenings or early of a morning to 
thus grind meal for the following day. When it was 
convenient for us to patronize a larger mill, it was one 
known as a horse mill run in conjunction with the old 
gins then in use. It took four horses and two drivers 
to operate this, and then it was rather a slow process. 
When our corn was taken to one of these last-named 
mills, I usually had to carry it on my shoulder, as we 
had no horse, and my brothers were all hired away 
from home the greater part of the time after they were 
old enough to work to help mother in the matter of 
providing for the family ; hence I, being the youngest, 
was the only dependence at home. I could take only 
a half bushel of corn to mill at a time, as the distance 
was from one to two miles, and it must be remembered 
that I was only a child yet. When my brothers were 
paid for their work, it came in as a very great help to 
us; but they were frequently swindled out of their 
wages or paid off in mere trash. 

During the war and before the times already men- 
tioned an incident occurred which I remember well. 
We had killed four small hogs, which were to serve as 
our meat supply for the year ; and this would require 



16 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

economy. The meat was put away in a big box in the 
kitchen end of the house, and the night following some 
thieves entered and took away every piece of it. They 
didn't leave us even a meat skin ; and so this year had 
to be passed as some others — without this article of 
food. About this time a regiment of soldiers passed 
our way and stripped our orchard, and thus we were 
left in extreme want. But somehow or other mother 
managed along so as to keep us living. I have known 
her to ride all day and until after night to secure bread 
for herself and children, and then sew until after mid- 
night to make our clothes. But further reference will 
be made to the question of food and clothing; and we 
therefore conclude this chapter by saying that the 
good Lord alone could have brought my poor mother 
through this trying ordeal. But he has promised to be 
a Husband to the widow and a Father to the orphan ; 
and so we have found him faithful to his promises. 



CHAPTER III. 

Other Sources of Supply. 

Ours was a wooded country, quite hilly and rough, 
and the abundance of underbrush afforded a good hid- 
ing place for wild animals and game of every descrip- 
tion. There was no scarcity of rabbits, squirrels, opos- 
sums, and coons, as well as turkeys and deer; and it 
was an easy task to go out and bring in a good supply 
of this game at almost any time. Most families were 
well stocked with a good representation of the canine 
tribe for rounding in this game, and of this dog fam- 
ily there were some adapted to bringing in one kind 
of game, and others for other kinds. There were rab- 
bit dogs and opossum dogs and dogs especially suited 
for the chase (I mean for foxes and deer) ; and when 
a dog had been specially trained for any particular line 
he was scarcely of any value for anything else. Be- 
sides the game already mentioned, the woods were full 
of herds of wild hogs ; and as most families had a claim, 
there must be dogs trained for baying these. Only 
a very few seemed adapted to this kind of dog busi- 
ness. There was no one at our house who could take 
much interest in the chase of any kind; but it had 
fallen to our lot to come in possession of one of these 
last-named dogs trained for baying wild hogs, and peo- 
ple would send from five to ten miles distant for "Old 
Drum ;" and when the chase was over they would usu- 
ally, to a limited extent, share their profits with us, 
2 (17) 



18 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

and thus in the economy of providence this old dog 
was used in helping to bring in a support to our family 
during this time of need. 

I have often wondered how my poor mother ever 
passed through this stormy period when there was 
such almost universal destitution and want; but 
when it is considered that the good Lord can send 
help through the agency of a dog, it need be no aston- 
ishment that we were brought through safely. It 
will be remembered that God commanded the "ra- 
vens" — whatever they were — to bring Elijah "bread 
and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the 
evening/' until the brook had dried up; and then the 
Lord sent his prophet elsewhere for a support. And 
when our Saviour wanted to make his triumphal 
march into Jerusalem, he borrowed an unbroken colt 
to carry him in, in the midst of the hosannas of the 
worshiping multitude. In all ages he has chosen such 
agencies as he would to carry on his work; and thus 
our good old dog was used. I have thought that if 
there could be a heaven for the faithful of the brute 
creation "Old Drum" would certainly have a place 
there, as he was so faithful in the performance of the 
duties that seemed to have been assigned him in the 
economy of providence. Much more might be said 
as to the manner in which our tables were often sup- 
plied with the other kinds of game mentioned; but 
enough has possibly been written here, except to say 
that the forests were thus made to yield their posses- 
sions to the wants of man in those times of distress. 

No mention has been made of the amount of amuse- 
ment found in rounding in this game for food sup- 
ply. I can remember when I had grown older that 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 19 

I frequently went with companies of men and boys 
in the night chase ; and after we had taken two or 
three fine fat opossums, we would build a fire in the 
woods and stand around it sometimes for quite a 
while, telling funny stories or sometimes dissipating 
in other ways not always profitable or even innocent, 
having what we called a big time, and finally retire 
to our homes happy over the results of the trip; and 
although we frequently proved ourselves very un- 
grateful by being very sinful, yet we did not fail to 
enjoy the blessings thus secured in the chase ; nor did 
God withhold his blessings on account of our sins. 
How wonderful are the mercies of God ! "He maketh 
his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and send- 
eth rain on the just and on the unjust." 

We will not take time to refer to the supply of 
fruits and berries of various kinds often secured by 
a visit to the fields and forests; but when our minds 
revert to those times and things, we are reminded of 
the supply of manna in the wilderness for the hungry 
Israelites, who only had to reach out their hands for 
the blessings so abundantly given; and we are taught 
that God is the same in all ages. He is unchangeable, 
and hence we may ever trust him if we will only do 
our part. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt 
thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." 
(Ps. xxxvii. 3.) 



CHAPTER IV. 
Clothing. 

As mere mention was made in a former chapter as 
to the question of clothing, we deem it proper to 
devote a short chapter to this subject. People who 
have grown up since those days can hardly have the 
faintest idea as to the methods used then by the peo- 
ple in supplying themselves with articles of dress. 
Every item worn by men, women, or children had 
to be made at home from the raw cotton. 

First, it was often necessary to separate the seed 
from the lint with the fingers, as there were but few 
gins then in operation; and then came the carding 
and spinning. Then the old reel and spools and warp- 
ing bars were in demand, and all this was quite a 
lengthy process, requiring much labor. 

Next came the dyeing, if different colors were de- 
sired, which was no small task itself. I have often 
spent hours and even whole days hunting paint rocks 
or gathering sumac berries or other materials used 
for dyeing purposes ; and I have seen the hands of our 
mothers and sisters stained for several days at a time 
with the dyes thus prepared for the coloring of cloth- 
ing. 

Then came the weaving and cutting and making 

into garments — all with the fingers. There were no 

sewing machines in those days. Every garment worn 

had to be made from start to finish with the fingers. 

(20) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 21 

But when one of those homespun, home-dyed, home- 
woven, and homemade suits or garments was com- 
pleted, it was worn with as much pride as we would 
now wear clothing made of silks or broadcloth. 

Our hats and shoes were also homemade. The 
leather out of which our shoes were made was dressed 
at our home tanneries and put together by our own 
home cobblers; and the hats we wore were mostly 
made of straw platted by our own hands and put to- 
gether with needle and thread by our mothers and 
sisters. 

The ladies wore sunbonnets made of the same home- 
spun material above described. The writer can well 
remember when the first ladies' hats began to be worn 
after the war. 

For men and boys there were homemade white wool 
hats for winter wear, instead of straw, for those able to 
buy them. They were usually made by men too old for 
service in the army, and who had learned this trade and 
now practiced it for a livelihood. 

What has been here written as to clothing supplies 
during the years described in these chapters was al- 
most universal among the people, as but little could 
be had from abroad, and hence all had to live alike 
in this respect, except that the wealthier could have 
a more abundant supply than the poorer classes, which 
of course is always understood ; but as our home rep- 
resented the last-named class, we knew intensely what 
all this meant. It was almost the rule at our house 
for mother and sisters to sit up and work with all 
their might until midnight on Saturday nights to have 
some new garments ready for some member of the 
family for the Sabbath. But one thing I recall is that 



22 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, 

when the hour hand of the clock stood at twelve ev- 
erything was called off, whether they had finished or 
not. Mother was a devout Christian, and scrupulous- 
ly regarded the observance of the Sabbath day. The 
dear, precious woman set us a good example in this 
as well as in many other, respects, whether we have 
always tried to emulate her example or not. She who 
would thus try to fear God and keep his command- 
ments could trust him who feeds the fowls of the air 
and clothes the grass of the field for food and clothing 
for herself and children, and she was never disap- 
pointed. 



CHAPTER V. 

Other Work. 

As I was the only boy at home from the time I was 
eight years of age until I was fifteen, it fell to my lot 
to see that wood was provided for cooking purposes 
as well as for use in the family room ; and inasmuch 
as we had no wagon and could scarcely ever get any 
wood hauled, it was necessary most of the time to 
resort to the woods for it, where it must be put in 
proper shape to be brought in on our shoulders or in 
our arms, and thus nearly all the wood burned in our 
home was prepared. Of course mother and sisters 
aided me some in this, as I was yet only a child ; but 
most of this work fell to me. 

Besides this it was my duty to run all errands for 
the family, sometimes requiring trips of four or five 
miles' distance ; and when it became necessary for me 
to be late in the evening reaching home, I was greatly 
afraid, as many stories had been told me by negroes, 
as well as white people, about ghosts and wild beasts, 
with which the country was supposed to be infested. 
So I was almost afraid of my own shadow at night, 
and not too brave in daytime, especially if I had to 
pass a graveyard. Older people sometimes thus scare 
children with ghost stories and else until they are 
afraid to go from one room to another at night, and 
their lives are almost a burden half the time on this 
account, when, in fact, there is absolutely nothing to 
hurt or disturb them. All this is very wrong, and should 

(23) 



24 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

be avoided persistently by parents and others to whom 
the care of children is committed. We all ought al- 
ways to endeavor to make life as sunshiny as possible 
instead of making it miserable for many, as above in- 
dicated. 

I remember once I was off on an errand four miles 
from home; and as there was a great rain during the 
afternoon, I was so delayed in starting on the return 
trip homeward that it was night before I had gone 
halfway, and on descending a long, steep hill into a 
little dark valley I saw something in the center of the 
road ahead of me that seemed to have a pair of great 
flaming eyes staring at me, and there was no way to 
surround it. The brush was very thick on each side of 
the road, and if I turned back I had this immense hill 
to climb the first thing, and I felt sure the beast would 
catch me at every step ; but this seemed to be my only 
possible escape, and so I was not long measuring the 
distance between myself and this object of terror by 
a distance of nearly two miles. I ran until I was al- 
most entirely exhausted, and did not try the trip fur- 
ther that night, and even next morning went another 
route to reach home, and always felt somewhat afraid 
of that road thereafter. After I was older I could 
imagine, since the ghost or beast did not follow me, 
that it was probably only a collection of water in the 
road in the little valley before me and the two eyes 
that I seemed to have seen were probably only the re- 
flection of two bright stars in the clear skies above. 
But be this as it might, I had had all my fright and 
trouble just the same. I might relate some other in- 
cidents of this kind, but think it would hardly be prof- 
itable, and therefore desist. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 25 

Added to the home work already recorded I was 
expected when at home on wash days to assist my 
sisters in this line of work, and often used the old bat- 
tling stick vigorously from early morn till noon, or 
did any other work that might be mapped out for me 
by those who were older, as such was my only work, 
except a few scattering days of chopping out cotton 
for our neighbors or working in the garden or potato 
patch until I was old enough to be hired out for wages 
to work on the farm, of which a full account will be 
given hereafter. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Corn-Shuckings and Quiltings. 

When the crops were being gathered in the fall, 
the corn was thrown into great heaps in the lot or 
near the barn, sometimes two or three hundred bush- 
els in a heap, and at the bottom of this and as near the 
center as possible a jug of whisky was placed. The 
jug was usually large enough to contain one or two 
gallons. This was intended as a treat for the workers 
when the job was completed. Of course it can be 
seen at once that the corn would have to be shucked 
before the treat could be secured. When those invited 
were at the place, and after they had worked awhile, 
a big-mouthed negro who could sing well was placed 
on the corn pile to sing and hollo. They had songs 
suited to the occasion ; and when this negro leader 
would give the main line all the others, white and 
black, would join in the chorus, and fairly make the 
corn and shucks fly until the work was done. Then 
came the treat. By this time the women would have 
finished their work on the quilt, and all this was fol- 
lowed by a good supper, such as usually given at log- 
rollings and other workings. When this was over and 
everything cleared away, or if there was plenty of 
room before the supper was finished, the music would 
start, and then for an all-night dance, with a play 
party for the younger ones in another room, and usu- 
ally the play party was equally as demoralizing as the 
dance. 

(26) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 2J 

Of course there were many such parties in those 
days along through the year, and especially during 
the winter season, when there was no public working. 
They were all run in about the same way. While 
there was not usually the public treat with whisky as 
at the corn-shuckings, still there was then, as there is 
now, always whisky on hand at these public dances. 
This seems to be part of the programme, and will 
doubtless ever continue so. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Some Tragedies. 

Along with the things of which mention has been 
made in the preceding chapters there occurred some 
things in our community of a very different character, 
and such, too, as would leave a lasting impression, 
especially on a young mind. 

There were several deserters from the Confederate 
army in the neighborhood, who, I suppose, spent most 
of their time in the woods, hiding from the officers. 
During this time a number of depredations were com- 
mitted in the community and surrounding country, 
such as the burning of ginhouses, schoolhouses, and 
other public buildings, and shooting into homes. One 
child was killed, and an old man shot at from his 
gate. The deserters mentioned above were ac- 
cused of all these crimes, and a number of citizens 
organized themselves into a company of self-con- 
stituted conscripters, and sifted the country for those 
supposed criminals, pretending that they had been 
deputized to take them, if they could be found, and 
send them back to their command. But as many as 
could be found were taken and brutally killed. I now 
recall the names of Elias Bounds, Fleet Smith, Lon 
Shepard, and others who were thus taken and mur- 
dered. The last-named was taken from his bed with 
a burning fever and, having one end of a rope fastened 
to him and the other end tied to the horn of the saddle 

(28) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 29 

occupied by one of the conscripters, was made to keep 
up with the horses as they loped off until they were 
far enough from the house to be out of sight ; then he 
was loosed from the saddle, tied to a tree, and given a 
moment to pray if he chose. When he became "too 
loud" with his prayers, as they said, they cursed him 
and filled him with bullets, then threw his body in a 
hollow and covered it with dirt. His friends recovered 
the body and gave it a decent burial. I attended the 
funeral, saw the bullet holes in his face, and was greatly 
moved by the cries and tears of his widow and orphan 
children thus left without a support. 

One other case is worthy of mention. A young 
man, or rather boy, seventeen years old, one of our 
nearest neighbor boys, was accused of having been 
seen with those deserters, who were supposed to have 
been guilty of the burnings and other crimes men- 
tioned, and was taken. I remember well when he and 
his captors passed our house, although I was then 
hardly nine years old. There was probably a com- 
pany of fifteen or twenty of them, all on horseback, 
while the young man was walking in front of them. 
He remarked to my mother as he passed the gate : 
"Pretty good escort I have." They took him to our 
church, where he was guarded that night. It was Sat- 
urday night, and the next day, Sunday, they took 
him down to the river, tw r o miles away, carved him up 
most brutally until he was dead, tied a rock to his neck, 
put him in the river, and left him there. Two days 
later his relatives and friends fished his body out, took 
it to the family burying ground, and laid it to rest. 

Several other things almost as shocking were per- 
petrated by this mob. which will give the reader a 



30 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

deeper insight into the times in which we lived. Some 
who took part in these things were Church people. 
But this can be understod when it is considered that 
the whole country was in a turmoil. It is not pleasant 
to write these things, but they will give the reader 
some idea of the contrast between things then and 
now. There are people who seem to think that the 
world is growing worse, but this writer does not see 
it thus. More light will be given in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Whisky and Debauchery. 

The presence everywhere of the crossroads whisky 
shop added very greatly to the perpetration and per- 
petuation of such evils as have been related in our 
former chapters, as well as many other wrongs not 
yet mentioned. It was not necessary to go any great 
distance to find one of these manufactories of drunk- 
ards, and on rainy days and Saturdays there could 
always be found a crowd of men and boys gathered 
at these places, where card-playing was one chief at- 
traction or source of amusement. They would play for 
the drinks, doing so until many were well drunk, and 
this included boys in their early teens. I know whereof 
I write. Then this would often end in a big row. 
Friends would fall out and fight, very frequently pis- 
tols were used with great freedom on these occasions, 
and often men would be taken to their families dead 
or wounded for life. 

I have been at our country village when men in- 
flamed with "bust-skull" whisky would fall out with 
their best friends, and a row would ensue, which 
would continue until the whole hill would be astir 
with men ready to take each other's lives — all, too, 
about some trivial matter. It was the red whisky 
doing all this mischief. Such scenes were frequent on 
occasions of horse-racing (for it must not be forgotten 
that this was also an age of horse-racing), when, as 
is alwavs the case, much gambling was carried on. 

(31) 



32 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

During certain seasons nearly every Saturday was 
spent at the race tracks. I was never at but one horse 
race, as luck would have it; but I remember well that 
it looked as though the whole country had turned out 
to the races that day, and our attention was called to 
the fact that Church members were holding the stakes 
for the races and many other Church people were pres- 
ent to witness them. In fact, I was then a member of 
the Church myself; but thus things went in those 
days. 

It might be supposed from what has been written 
that the wickedness was all perpetrated by the men; 
but this was not the case. In many quarters there was 
great degradation among those of the other sex. Such 
times as have been described could not fail to produce 
evil effects among the women ; and hence much might 
be written on this line, but I forbear. Suffice it to 
say that it could not have been much worse than it was 
in many places. Of course there were good and pure 
people among both sexes then as now ; but there was, 
on the other hand, much sin and vice. There were 
veritable dens of iniquity then as now — easy,, too, to be 
found. Hence our conclusion again is that the world 
is not growing worse, but better. The only difference 
is that then many such things were practiced almost 
openly and were hardly known in the neighboring 
community, whereas now a little crime of to-day is 
made known around the world to-morrow by means 
of the press. 

In my next chapter I will notice some of the tenden- 
cies of these evils in my own life. 



CHAPTER IX. 
First Year from Home. 

It has probably been noted already from what has 
been written that nearly all the influence brought to 
bear on my life up to this time, to any great extent 
at least, had been from our own home circle, and hence 
there had been but little variation any way ; and the 
influences of our home were only for good, so far as 
mother's efforts could make it. She was decidedly 
a Christian, and always tried to lead her children in 
this way. To this end our home was guarded from 
the evils common in this age, such as the dance and 
its kindred evils. But the time had now come when 
I must go from home, although I was only eleven 
years old. 

I was hired to work on the farm at eight dollars a 
month, and was here associated with free negroes and 
obscene and profane white men and boys. It is doubt- 
ful whether I could have found a worse class than 
was to be found on this farm or circumstances more 
unfavorable to piety or even good morals. Exactly 
the reverse was prevalent everywhere and witnessed 
on every hand. As has already been intimated, the 
most profane and obscene language possible was in- 
dulged in, and drunkenness and debauchery was com- 
mon among them — all of which was exceedingly de- 
moralizing to one unaccustomed to such things. For- 
tunately for me, however, I was not kept there, first 
and last, more than six months ; and the remainder of 
3 (33) 



34 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

this year I was very differently surrounded. In this 
way these evil influences were for the time averted; 
and as I then had another year at home, together with 
the influence of the Sunday school, I was not at this 
time contaminated by these things so much as I would 
have been had it been necessary for me to remain under 
such influences any great length of time. 

Religion, however, was at a very low ebb in the coun- 
try at this time, even among the better class of people. 
The war had left its impress on the morals of the coun- 
try everywhere, as well as its other disastrous effects. 
While we had churches scattered through the country, 
and preachers of the old type (as good men as ever 
lived, some of them at least, who would hold two days' 
meetings, and these sometimes protracted for several 
days more), still there was so much political strife, 
with so many other adverse influences to hinder the 
work, that but little could be accomplished. Hence 
there were very few people in our community who 
made any pretensions to religion. Very few of the 
men belonged to any Church at all, even among the 
older ones, and those who did were only nominal mem- 
bers. There were only two men, both of whom were 
on the old list, who could be called religious, and only 
one of them strictly so, and this embraced a radius of 
three or four miles; while, on the other hand, sin 
seemed to reign everywhere. 

Such was the condition of society at that time as I 
now remember it ; but more of this in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER X. 
Second Year Away from Home. 

I made brief mention in a former chapter of the wild 
associations of my first year as a hired hand on the 
farm ; though the half could never be told. In fact, it 
would not do to go into details at this point. I will, 
however, write of some of the particulars of my second 
year thus spent. 

I was hired to a physician to cultivate a small crop 
for him, receiving such assistance as might be found 
necessary from time to time. The doctor had lost his 
wife the preceding year, and hence his family at this 
time consisted of himself, three sons, and the colored 
cook. The doctor was himself a perfect gentleman 
in every sense of the word, though not a Christian ; but 
the boys were very dissipated. They were wicked in 
almost every way that could have been mentioned at 
the time of which I write. Their home was located in 
the country village of which mention has already been 
made, and they contributed much in giving the com- 
munity the character it bore. They were regarded as of 
the "upper ten" class of society from a worldly stand- 
point, owing to the comparative wealth of their father ; 
but they were desperately wicked, and their associates 
were of the same dissipated class. They went in and 
out at will in their home ; and when it is remembered 
that there was no lady there to give her influence for 
good, and the father frequently awav in his profession- 

(35) 



36 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

al work, it will be easy for one to draw a picture of 
their home in his imagination. Even the colored peo- 
ple associated with the premises were of the most de- 
graded class. 

The writer and the youngest of these three brothers, 
being about the same age, became great chums. I 
learned to love him with a love almost equal to that of 
a woman, and hence he could have led me at will into 
any sort of place of sin; and by this time I was not 
hard to lead. On one occasion we caught an old 
horse in the field, put a rope headstall on him as 
a substitute for a bridle, used the top of a quilt as a 
blanket, and, without a saddle, doubled on one horse, 
rode to our county seat, and put up for the night at 
the home of Judge Roane. My young friend and com- 
panion had supplied us with some alcohol from his 
father's drug store, and on reaching town had pur- 
chased an additional bottle of whisky, and thus we 
were prepared to go most anywhere for the night. 
Next morning (Sunday) he added to our stock a bot- 
tle of peach brandy, and we started on our return trip 
home, taking occasion to make his grandmother a visit 
on the way. I can never forget how when we were 
invited to the dining table in the basement, it being 
necessary to descend a flight of steps to reach the table, 
my friend staggered at the top step and kept falling 
until he lay his full length on the floor in the dining 
room. He did not join us at the table, but with some 
assistance found another room, where he remained for 
a nap. It was the mixture of the whisky, alcohol, and 
peach brandy that did this work. We continued our 
return trip home in the afternoon, turned the horse 
back on the grass in the old field, threw the quilt top 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. $y 

away, and hid the rope headstall, so that no one at 
home ever knew where we had been. This was the 
only time in life that I ever became really intoxicated, 
although I was at other times under the influence of 
strong drink ; and all this when I was yet only fourteen 
years old. 

Again, this same boy and I walked to the county 
seat and back, a distance of twelve miles, by dinner. 
and were near enough to hear the dinner horn and put 
in our appearance for the midday meal as though we 
had been at work in the field ; and no one ever knew 
to the contrary. This time again we went after whis- 
ky. My young friend always furnished the money, as 
he was in a position to do this. 

On another occasion we planned to leave home and 
go to New Orleans and offer ourselves for work in 
stores. We were willing to do anything in such a place 
to get a raise ; and so we made all our arrangements 
to start on Saturday evening. We could make our 
plans work without suspicion on that day better than 
any other, as it was my custom to visit home on that 
day and spend the Sabbath with mother and sisters, 
and my friend frequently spent Saturday nights from 
home. So it was most convenient for us to get away 
on this night. We had informed the colored cook of 
our plans. She seemed to take an interest in helping 
us off, prepared our clothes, fixed us a lunch to eat 
on the way, and had everything in readiness for us. 
When the hour came, my comrade went to the family 
merchant with a forged order from his father, secured 
a loan of forty dollars (eight five-dollar bills), and we 
were in the back door ready to start when the eldest 
brother of the other boy and a cousin of his rode up 



38 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

on the side we were starting from and so frightened 
us by their presence that we abandoned the whole proj- 
ect in less time than it takes to tell it. The boy carried 
the money back to the merchant, informed him that 
his father had found that he would not need it, and so 
this was never made known to any one further. Thus 
we escaped what might have been the worst for us. 

Many other similar incidents might be related as to 
the affairs of this year and its associations ; but enough 
has been written to show the tendencies of the times. 
I suppose I might have told how these boys formulated 
plans by which they could secure brandy from a Mr. 
Covington, who had a fine large orchard and made 
much brandy to use and give away to his neighbors 
and friends when it was needed in sickness. He would 
not sell it at all ; but when there was occasion for using 
it in sickness, he seemed glad to let his friends have it ; 
so the boys would go and represent some one as 
being sick and get brandy until the old gentleman 
discovered their scheme and would not let them have 
any more. They sent me once to represent that Henry 
Kilgore, my cousin, had been snake-bitten and needed 
some brandy. I was soon in possession of a bottle of 
this, and we thought we were having great fun; but 
on my second visit on a similar errand the old gentle- 
man said the snakes were getting too bad, and I didn't 
linger a moment to argue the question with him. But 
afterwards I met him and he asked me who put me 
up to this. I was glad when he left our country for 
California, as I always dreaded to meet him after this, 
although he was a very fine old gentleman and had an 
elegant family. 

But enough has been said on this line, and so we will 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 39 

turn to the other side for a time and notice some move- 
ments and influences for reformation in our own lives 
and in the history of the community. I am glad to re- 
cord here before closing- this chapter that at least one 
of the sons of the physician to whom reference has 
been made reformed his life later, became an earnest 
Christian, joined the Methodist Church, and lived a 
consistent life for a number of years. He reared an 
interesting family, was honored with public office for 
a term of years in the county in which he lived, and 
finally died in the faith and went to his reward in 
heaven, as we have all reason to believe. The others 
I have lost sight of, but hope they, too, have changed 
their lives and will meet their mother in the good 
world. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Vacillations. 

During all these years — from the time I was old 
enough to begin to get out from home, even on errands 
for my mother; but more particularly after I first left 
home to work as a hired hand on the farm, which was, 
as will be remembered, when I was only eleven years 
old — there seemed to have been a sort of vagrancy 
about my life when I was not regularly employed, wan- 
dering from place to place in an aimless way. While 
my mother was a deeply pious woman, and did what 
she could in the way of influence at least, yet she was 
quite indulgent. I suppose she didn't draw the reins 
as tightly as she ought ; and hence this habit of going 
somewhat at will and staying too long at a place when 
sent on business rather grew on me until there may 
have seemed danger, as my friends saw things, that I 
would live this sort of a life all through; and I can 
imagine now that I was sometimes at places where I 
was not specially wanted, although I was almost always 
treated with the greatest kindness. I think I had one 
redeeming trait, and that was perfect willingness and 
readiness to do whatever I was asked to do wherever 
I happened to be. This, I suppose, helped me along 
very much during these days of apparent vagrancy. 

In fact, there seemed to be a sort of double-minded- 
ness about me anyway, and sometimes the evil would 
get the better of me, while at other times the good 
(4o) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 41 

would predominate. I suppose I might have found an 
illustration of my life as then lived in the story of the 
gentleman who had a young dog given him. He put 
the dog in a sack and started home with it ; but when 
he called at a house to see another gentleman on some 
business and left the sack in the hall with the dog in 
it, the boys of the home, to have some fun, slipped his 
dog out and put their pet pig in the sack in its stead. 
So when the man went to show his neighbor his fine 
young dog before starting home, on opening the sack 
the pig came out. Of course he was surprised and dis- 
appointed ; but he put the pig back, thinking to take it 
on home anyway. While he was arranging some other 
matters before starting the boys took their pig out and 
replaced his pup in the sack. So when he reached home 
and went to turn the pig out it was a pup; and the 
gentleman declared he didn't know whether he had a 
pig or a pup. So it was with my life. I had good de- 
sires and good aspirations and would form good reso- 
lutions all the way ; but these were not always carried 
out. I wonder if other people have had experiences 
like this. I am afraid so, judging from their lives. 
But God's Word teaches us that a double-minded man 
is unstable in all his ways, and that such a one need not 
expect anything from the Lord. 

I have already mentioned the kind treatment I usual- 
ly received where I chanced to go; but the reader 
must not conclude that this was always the case, as I 
was driven away from homes as many as a half dozen 
times or more with great vehemence ; but as I was 
only a little orphan boy, there was a possibility of out- 
living all these things ; and so I need not despair. I am 
glad to record here that those same people who became 



42 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

impatient with me then lived to see me an honored min- 
ister of the Lord Jesus, and afterwards gave me fre- 
quent invitations to their homes and treated me with 
great consideration. So one need not become despond- 
ent in the evil days. 

It seemed a great misfortune that I had no father to 
order my movements and control my time. But as we 
cannot see the end from the beginning, as can the One 
whose we are and whom we serve, it was possibly best 
that I had to grow up as I did. One thing I remember 
well : when I was alone I built many air castles. Some- 
times I would imagine myself very rich, and I would 
embark on the commercial seas with large storehouses 
of goods, scores of clerks, and a constantly increasing- 
business, when, in fact, I was very poor and destined to 
remain so, so far as this world's goods are concerned. It 
is well, I suppose, for one to imagine himself rich occa- 
sionally, although his hopes may never materialize. At 
other times I would imagine myself a practicing physi- 
cian, always successful, never losing a case; and so on 
through all the professions and avocations of life. Most 
frequently, however, I would imagine myself a preach- 
er, always with large congregations before me. I would 
preach, call penitents, and witness wonders. It was an 
easy matter, you know, to preach to the bushes and 
have success ; but it only remained for me to learn that 
these were only air castles, and must crumble to pieces 
before the approaching realities of life. I am glad and 
thankful to the good Lord, however, for the measure 
of success he has given me in the work I have tried to 
do for him, and for my repeated failures when I have 
trusted in the least in my own strength. The success 
that has crowned the work when I have relied wholly 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 43 

on him has taught me experimentally that, while the 
ministry may plant and the Church may water, it is 
God who giveth the increase. I have sure enough been 
in the ministry more than a quarter of a century, and 
for all that has been accomplished through me I want 
to ascribe praise to his name. 



Note. — It will be evident to the reader that I am 
trying to make these chapters short; and yet I hope I 
may escape the embarrassment that came to the young 
man through his marriage contract. He had met and 
admired a young lady, and this admiration had ripened 
into love, until the time came when he thought he 
should make known to her his intentions ; and so he 
asked her if she would consent to be his wife, when 
she replied: "No, indeed! I'll never consent to settle 
down in a corner to mend clothes for one man." Upon 
this he promised her if she would marry him he would 
never require this of her. She finally consented, and 
they were made one. Soon afterwards the young man 
purchased a new pair of trousers ; and although he 
had secured his number, he found when he tried them 
on that they were four inches too long. They fit him 
every other way, however, and he thought this could 
be easily remedied; and although he remembered his 
promise, he took them to his young wife and asked 
her if she would not cut them off the proper length for 
him. She replied: "No; never. You said you would 
not ask me to do such things, and I will not commence 
it." He then carried them to his sister, and asked her 
to do the work for him. She said: "No; your wife 
can do it as well as I can." Then he turned to his 
mother, feeling sure he would not be denied; but he 



44 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was again disappointed, as she told him it was now the 
duty of his wife to do such things for him. So, being 
disappointed at every turn, he hung them in the closet 
and went about his work. After he had gone his young 
wife reconsidered the matter, and, taking the pants 
down from the closet, cut off the four inches, fixed 
them nicely, and hung them back in their place. Then 
the sister, not knowing what had been done, did like- 
wise ; and then the mother, considering how good her 
son had always been, did the same thing. And so when 
he took them from the closet again, he found that, al- 
though he was a married man, they had prepared for 
him to go back into "knee pants." Now, while I wish 
to condense as much as possible in writing the story 
of my life, still I hope I may avoid too much trimming, 
as my chief desire in it all is to bring the greatest possi- 
ble good to the reader for time and eternity. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Temperance Movement. 

During the year following the things related in the 
last chapter the "United Friends of Temperance Soci- 
ety" had its run in sections of Mississippi. An organi- 
zation was effected in our community, and more than 
two hundred took the pledge. It would hardly be pos- 
sible for the people of a neighborhood to become more 
enthused in any work than ours did in this. During 
its progress among us a petition to the Legislature was 
circulated asking for the passage of a bill prohibiting 
the sale of intoxicants within five miles of our post 
office, which was effected; and hence the saloon, with 
its accompanying evils, was removed from us. I am 
glad to say now, after thirty years have come and 
gone, that there has never been another whisky shop 
within the radius of that five miles, so far as I know. 
And while some old topers continued to drink, order- 
ing their whisky from other places, there were a great 
many younger people, white as well as colored, who 
did not go to those distant stands for it. Hence refor- 
mation began to be evident in a goodly number of 
cases ; and just in the wake of this temperance move- 
ment a revival influence began, many were gathered 
into the Churches, and a wave of good started that 
will doubtless be continued until the rounding up of 
all things. 

In the light of these historical facts I have always 

(45) 



46 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

been ready to encourage any movement intended for 
the suppression of vice of any description. While such 
a movement itself may seem short-lived, as in the above 
instance, its effects will still remain for the betterment 
of the world. It was during this wave of revival in- 
fluence that this writer and a number of his school- 
mates surrendered their young hearts and lives to 
Christ; and although there were some serious back- 
slidings after this, still those influences and the vows 
that were made here have never been forgotten or en- 
tirely abandoned. On the contrary, they linger as 
among the most sacred recollections of our lives, and 
will doubtless be treasured up in eternity. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
The Sunday School. 

During all these years the Sunday school had had 
an existence, being patronized, however, by a very small 
element, but counteracting to a very limited extent for 
the time the evil influences of the outside world. Its 
own influence was greatly paralyzed, however, by hav- 
ing to go into winter quarters every year for lack of 
comfortable houses, thus losing the very time when 
worldliness, including the dance and other such revel- 
ries, was most prevalent. But even the revival of the 
Sunday school work in the summer time had its effects 
for good, as seed was thus being sown in the hearts 
and lives of the children of the community that would 
germinate in after years and bring fruit to the glory 
of God and the good of the Church. 

It was my privilege to attend one of these schools 
during the months of its existence for two or three 
consecutive years, and here I committed to memory 
many passages and even whole chapters from the word 
of God, although I was not yet a Christian. (This was 
before the revival came in which many of us joined the 
Church.) I remember one Sunday the superintendent 
told us if we would commit to memory five verses from 
the New Testament for the next Sabbath he would give 
us a red ticket, and for every five red tickets thus se- 
cured we would get a blue one, and for every five blue 
ones we should have a "prettv ticket." Thus it will 

(47), 



48 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

be seen that it would take one hundred and twenty-five 
verses to secure one of those "pretty tickets," while by 
this time we would have twenty-five of the red tickets 
and five of the blue ones. I went home and began in 
great earnestness, intending, if possible, to commit the 
entire New Testament to memory during that school. 
I began with the second chapter of Matthew. I would 
have begun with the first, but couldn't pronounce those 
hard old names. But I did memorize the second and 
third chapters, and could repeat them perfectly when 
the day came. There was only one other in the school 
who had committed so many, and that was a girl. She 
had selected the same chapters I had, and neither of 
us knew the other was learning them ; and she was my 
sweetheart. I thought then that we surely would marry 
because she had selected the same chapters I had. 
Well, we really did get into a race committing the 
scriptures to memory, and sometimes she was ahead of 
me, while at other times I was in advance ; and thus the 
work went on until, having two weeks to run on, we 
brought up for one Sunday nearly five hundred verses 
each. Of course we would not have time to repeat 
so many at the Sunday school ; still we had them ready. 
See how the memory can be cultivated. We might 
know the Bible by heart, especially the New Testa- 
ment, and yet there are numbers of people who cannot 
quote a promise to a penitent sinner, but must stand 
with mouth closed in the midst of golden oppor- 
tunities for doing good, as if there were no help. I 
must say now that these Sunday school lessons and in- 
fluences left a lasting impression on my young life; 
and I gathered up gravel stones from the bottom of the 
bed of the river of life during that school that I have 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 49 

been able to scatter among the people since; and this 
word has been made the power of God unto salvation 
to many who have believed. May this great institution 
of the Church prosper a thousandfold more and yet 
bring blessings to tens of thousands of the sons and 
daughters of our race ! 
4 



CHAPTER XIV. 
The Camp Meeting. 

It was during my second year's association with the 
Sunday school that a camp meeting enterprise was on 
foot in our country. Brother Mitchell was our preach- 
er, and he began talking camp meeting soon after com- 
ing to the work, and kept it up until a sufficient num- 
ber of people had been pledged to tent on the grounds 
to justify the announcement of the meeting. The first 
week in September was the time selected. Mother was 
among the tenters, and we moved to the camp on Sat- 
urday morning, reaching there early. Quite a large 
number of ministers had been secured as help, and 
they, as they usually do on such occasions, had four 
sermons each day, besides an early prayer service an- 
swering for morning family worship. I had never 
seen it in this fashion before. Penitents were invited 
at the close of every service; and there were many 
seekers, and large numbers were saved. I went for- 
ward for prayers, I suppose, at nearly every service 
until on Monday evening, at a grove prayer meeting 
conducted by Rev. Ben H. Bounds, I was happily con- 
verted, and that night at the close of the service I was 
received into the Church by Rev. Amos Kendall, who 
was at the time presiding elder of the district. 

The sermons preached and the songs sung at that 
camp meeting were such as would naturally leave a 
lasting impression on the minds and hearts of those 

(50) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 51 

who witnessed them, especially those who had never 
attended camp meetings before. Backed up by the in- 
fluence of the temperance movement and the Sunday 
school work and the vows we had made, I for one went 
away from the camp ground when the meeting was 
over thoroughly committed in my convictions and res- 
olutions to the work of the Lord; but there yet re- 
mained some lessons for me to learn that I knew not 
of as yet. But while I learned later that I must still 
witness the prevalence of sin in many quarters and 
sometimes inconsistencies on the part of professed 
Christians, and while it remained for me to experience 
in my own life some painful backslidings, still these 
camp meeting occasions left a divine flavor in my life 
that I hope I shall never live long enough to forget. 

The recollection of those times almost makes one 
want to live his life over again. Tt seems that we can 
never again have such grand congregational singing 
as was practiced and enjoyed then. But still there are 
many, many good things now that we didn't have then ; 
and so I suppose these new institutions of the Church 
will probably more than balance with the things that 
are gone. We shall live on and work on at least until 
we meet with those of other days "in the sweet by 
and by." 



CHAPTER XV. 
An Incident. 

It will probably be remembered that at the time of 
the camp meeting described above the writer was only 
fourteen years of age, and therefore entirely subject to 
my mother's directions as to preparation for such occa- 
sions. For this time she had made me a nice linen 
suit. This material was extensively used for chil- 
dren's wear, it being much less expensive than goods 
of a heavier texture, and the question of economy was 
necessarily a matter of consideration with us. This new 
linen suit was very highly appreciated by its owner; 
however, while it was a wonderful improvement in style 
on the old purple-dyed homespun we had been accus- 
tomed to wearing, and while I was proud of the new 
clothes, there was another thing in my possession of 
which I was much more vainly proud than of the 
clothes. I had in some way from somewhere (I do not 
just remember how) come into possession of a watch 
chain. I am sure it was brass, for my only recollec- 
tion concerning it is that it cost only twenty-five cents. 
But I placed it in my vest buttonhole and hitched the 
other end to my vest pocket. I had no watch, and 
as I moved about on the camp ground I imagined that 
every one who came near me would see and admire my 
chain. 

As I have already told the reader, under the burning 
words of the men of God in their sermons I had gone 

(52) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 53 

forward for prayer at nearly every call for penitents; 
and while I was under conviction and really wanted to 
be saved, even in the midst of my most earnest pleas 
for pardon this watch chain would get before me and 
get tangled up in my prayers, so that while others were 
being saved on my right hand and on my left, and the 
people praising God all around me, still I was only the 
more miserable, until finally on Monday afternoon dur- 
ing the altar service I decided that this watch chain was 
in my way. So I loosed it from my vest and slipped 
it down in the straw in the altar under me, and never 
saw it again. Almost immediately this service was 
closed and the usual grove meetings announced, one 
for the men and another for the women in different 
directions from the camp. I went with a number of 
other penitents to the men's meeting, and the first 
prayer was not over before God for Christ's sake had 
pardoned my sins, and I returned to my mother's 
tent praising God. Thus I was taught, as I believe, 
that a very small and apparently insignificant thing 
can be a great hindrance to one who is seeking salva- 
tion. 

The merchantman of the New Testament who was 
seeking goodly pearls sold all he had before he could 
buy the pearl of great price. A ballroom dress or 
an approaching dance or a game of cards has kept 
many a person from this greatest of blessings. Esau 
sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, and Judas 
sold his Master for a few pieces of silver. But these 
both found occasion to repent bitterly for their rash 
acts, and so has it ever been. "Whatsoever a man sow- 
eth, that shall he also reap." "He that soweth to the 
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.'* What may 



54 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

seem to be a trifle may keep one out of the kingdom of 
Christ here, and whatever will bar the kingdom against 
an individual here will keep him out of heaven when 
he dies. So we should not "despise the day of small 
things." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Backsliding. 

After my conversion I ran well for a season. I 
had no inclination whatever to return to my former 
way of living; but, on the other hand, was fully re- 
solved to live a good and useful life. And I believe 
till yet that if the Church had given me work to do, I 
would have been saved much trouble and loss during 
the months that followed ; but as I was offered no work 
to do in the Church, the devil soon found employment 
for me. My sister was a young lady, not yet a mem- 
ber of the Church, and was invited to a party. That 
is what we called them then. They have new names 
for them now, however, the most recent of which is 
"cake walk." But we called them "parties." It was 
New Year's day; I shall never forget it. Sister had 
other company, but I decided I would go too. Here 
I made a great mistake. It would have been better 
if I had gone to prayer meeting or else remained at 
home. Anyway the devil set a trap for me that night. 
He knows the weaker points in our character, and has 
been occupied more than six thousand years forming 
plans and devising schemes by which he hopes to yet 
ruin our influence and wreck our souls. He will never 
lose an opportunity to effect this diabolical purpose if 
possible; and so he had things arranged for me that 
night. There were eighteen young ladies and girls 
present who would dance, and only five young gentle- 

(55) 



56 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

men, counting myself, and I was a mere kid. I say 
"kid" here, for I was then among the devil's goats. 
According to the old regime, it took a definite number 
to make a set, and one had to give us the music. There 
remained just the number to complete the set if I 
would take part. 

The girls asked me if I would dance. I told them 
I was a member of the Church. They said it was no 
harm to dance; but I insisted that I was a member of 
the Church, and then two girls danced together to 
make up the set. They looked very awkward, and I 
believe they felt that way. They kept looking at me 
anyway, and I kept looking at them. After a while 
they asked me to just come out and walk around with 
them. They said it would not be wrong to walk around, 
and it really didn't look like there could be any harm 
in simply walking around. It was a great temptation, 
especially as my best girl was among the dancers, and 
I yielded to their entreaties and went out just to walk 
around. I had hardly reached the floor before some- 
thing seemed to say: "Now you've fixed it, haven't 
you? You have forfeited your vows and brought a 
reproach on the Church. You promised in the presence 
of God and the congregation to 'renounce the devil 
and all his works,' etc. ; and now here you are mixed 
up with a Godless, Christless set, who care nothing 
for you or your Church in a religious sense, and will 
laugh at you for your inconsistencies when the occa- 
sion is over." And so I was robbed of my good con- 
science in an instant, and was persuaded in my own 
mind that the people would have no confidence in me 
as a Christian any longer anyway, and hence I had 
as well go on and have a good time ; and so on I went 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 57 

for many weeks, traveling all the gaits in the way of 
sin until I was well-nigh ruined. I soon learned to 
call the set for them, and was a leader in the dance, and 
also learned to play cards and gamble on a small scale, 
and many other things of vice ; but my career in this 
way was brief comparatively, as I was soon restored 
while yet in my teens, and then began sure enough to 
work for Christ. 

I have always regretted those times of evil, as they 
left an ugly scar on my life. Sin is like a snowball in 
one particular: it increases as it goes. It might be 
checked at first by a very small obstruction, but later 
rushes on over bushes and else until in the form of a 
mighty avalanche it will bury the city and leave death 
and destruction in its wake. The first game of cards 
I learned to play was a game of ''smut," but it was not 
long until I had learned to play "seven-up" and "eu- 
chre" and the other games practiced or indulged in 
during those days ; and I indulged in such things until 
I was reclaimed, since which time I have not ceased to 
warn others of these dangers. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Reclamation. 

During the months of my wandering from God as 
a backslider I became profane. I am even now very 
sorry I ever learned to use bad language. It is so 
ugly and leaves such a scar on one's life, and it is so 
wrong to take the name of the Lord in vain ; but when 
one starts on the wrong road there is no telling where 
the end will be. I had gone on in this way until one 
day I was plowing in some rather rough land, and my 
horse seemed more contrary and harder to manage 
than I had ever seen him before. Bad people some- 
times make bad horses ; but at this time I thought the 
horse was all to blame. So I found myself saying a 
whole lot of bad words to him, when all at once I 
seemed to have come to myself. The Holy Spirit ar- 
rested me, and I began to ask myself the question as 
to what good could be accomplished in any way by the 
use of this bad language. It could not benefit the 
horse, and was evidently hurtful to me, and I stood 
still between my plow handles until I had fully resolved 
never to take the Lord's name in vain again; and by 
his grace I never have unto this day. 

But I had no sooner formed this resolution than 
those other things of which I had been guilty came 
trooping up before my mind, with the question : "What 
are you going to do with these ?" Hardly an hour had 
passed before I had resolved to quit them all and begin 
(58) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 59 

from that day to live a better life. But I felt so weak, 
and could not dismiss from my mind the fact that I 
had started once, and that, too, in a more public way, 
and had made such a woeful failure that it seemed im- 
possible at times for me to ever keep these vows I was 
then making. But the more I thought of these .things 
the more determined I became to make this another 
earnest effort at least ; and so that night I went to the 
old china berry tree in our yard, standing near the cor- 
ner of the office where I slept, and, kneeling among its 
sprangled roots, I poured out my soul to God in prayer 
for help. Thus I continued every night for more than 
three weeks ; and while the Lord did not restore to me 
the "joys of his salvation" then, still I did feel greatly 
strengthened against temptation. 

No doubt if my precious mother had known that I 
was kneeling in prayer at that old tree she would have 
come to my assistance; but this was not made known 
to any one but God. Besides this, I had resolved never 
to make known my convictions again until I could be 
fully reclaimed and live a good life for a while. I was 
going to serve God on the sly. I never intended to ap- 
proach another public altar for prayer. But God did not 
bless me thus, for this was not "his way." I had sinned 
publicly and should confess publicly; and as the days 
and weeks passed I became more miserable. When the 
protracted meeting at our church began, I was among 
the first at the altar on Saturday morning, responding 
to the first call for penitents. In fact, the minister in 
his sermon seemed to have understood my case, and his 
words seemed to have been directed to me pointedly. 
I was under awful conviction, and everything seemed 
to condemn me; and so I continued at every service, 



60 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

going forward at every call and thinking of little else 
until the following Monday night, when, amid the 
shouts of praise and loud, glad hallelujahs on the part 
of others who were being saved, I resolved that, feel- 
ing or no feeling, blessing or no blessing (I wasn't 
worthy to be blessed anyway; I was only worthy of 
death as I felt), from that time on I would serve God 
anyway, and if he let me die and go to hell I would 
serve him and go down praying for salvation and try- 
ing to do his will. I had no more than reached this 
conclusion when the burden was gone and a sweet 
peace came to my soul, such as I had not felt for many 
months. 

There had been no special difficulty about my trust- 
ing God ; but I was afraid he wouldn't trust me. The 
unconverted man or woman doesn't know how to trust 
God for pardon ; but the backslider is afraid God won't 
trust him again. This had been my trouble. But here 
I realized the full pardon of all past offenses, and was 
more than ever resolved to "never turn back any 
more." They did not make any further propositions 
that night or give an opportunity for any one to unite 
with the Church ; hence I went to our class leader next 
morning and asked him if my name was still on the 
Church roll. I knew it ought not to have been there 
all this time ; but as there had been no notice given of 
a Church trial, I didn't know how the case stood, and 
I intended to join again at once if my name was off. 
When they informed me that my name was still on 
the class book I was glad, and told them to let it re- 
main there forever. 

Soon after this to some of my friends I expressed a 
willingness to work if called on, and was soon called 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 61 

on to pray in public, which I tried to do. I have ever 
since been trying to do what I could ; but as to further 
preparation for work and the developments that must 
necessarily be made in order to a life of usefulness 
much will be written hereafter. But in my case I had 
found God, and had again fully verified his promise : 
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you ;" "Draw 
nigh unto me, and I will draw nigh unto you." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Escape from Ruin. 

Soon after my recovery from this lapse into sin cir- 
cumstances led me to make an effort to save one of my 
lifelong friends. Although he was older than myself, 
I was old enough to remember him before he was 
grown. He was a noble boy, every inch a gentleman, 
and a model for other boys in his general deport- 
ment before men. I had heard my own mother express 
a hope that her boys would be as true and manly as she 
considered this young man. His father was a minis- 
ter of the gospel, but had gone to his reward in heaven. 
I saw the father die. 

"I heard the parting pilgrim tell, 

While crossing Jordan's stormy river, 
'Adieu to earth, for all is well; 

Now all is well with me forever.' " 

He left this son a nice little home, some stock, some 
money, and a good name. 

But I knew the boy later when he had no home; I 
knew him when he had no stock, his money was all 
gone, and he was denied credit by those who had helped 
to ruin him; I knew him when his poor old widowed 
mother was going with her gray hairs in sorrow to 
the grave. I have seen her weep as though her heart 
would break as she would relate to my mother and 
others the sad story of the downfall of this once noble 

(62) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 63 

boy. I have gone and with my own hands chopped 
wood for this poor old woman while her prodigal son 
was away from home on protracted sprees of dissipa- 
tion, and sometimes with a lighted torch I would go 
into the dark woods at a late hour at night to search 
for this dissipated son to try to comfort his poor moth- 
er. I knew him when, later still, the little woman to 
whom he had plighted his faith at the altar had lost the 
flush from her cheeks and was compelled to live in 
want, and when the little children God had given him 
would work up and down the long cotton rows of Mis- 
sissippi, looking to the time when the sale of their prod- 
uce could be made, and thus new clothes could be 
secured, and when Santa Claus might come and bring 
them good cheer. But more than once I have known 
that dissipated father to go of! on sprees of drunken- 
ness and spend the earnings of those poor, hard-worked 
children ; so that no new clothes could be bought nor 
would Santa Claus visit their home. I have a hundred 
times sympathized with those poor children. 

Hence it was after one of his protracted sprees that 
I addressed him as we sat together on the old sill in 
his mother's yard and asked him if for the sake of his 
poor old mother, for the sake of his noble wife, for the 
sake of his sweet children, and especially for his own 
sake he could not and would not assert his moral man- 
hood and leave off his old habits. I can never forget 
the scene that followed. He buried his face in his 
hands and wept and wept and wept, and finally said: 
"O God, if I could! But I have murdered my will 
power, I have murdered my manhood, and murdered my 
soul." But back of this, while he yet had money, and 
before all had been squandered, I had heard him say 



64 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, 

to his mother, when she would plead with him not to 
leave her and act in that way, with profanity: "My 
money is my own; I will spend it as I please." And 
now here was the poor fellow without money and a 
slave to habit. And as he continued speaking, while 
we sat on the old sill, he said to me : "Tell them I got 
my start hellward in the mixed dance. Here I learned 
to associate with bad company, and was led into sins 
that I would not now mention." When I heard him 
say these things with so much feeling, I could not but 
see how narrowly I myself had escaped ruin. 

Later still I was called into a home where a young 
man was dying without hope ; and as I was trying to 
point him to Christ he told me how when his mother 
and sisters tried to persuade him to go with them to 
the revival meeting, where special efforts were being 
made to save people, he tore away from them and went 
to the dance, and that the good Spirit had left him en- 
tirely. He died cursing his best friends and cursing 
his own soul. 

Again, I went with a minister in one of the Western 
States to visit a dying woman. She was a young wid- 
ow, and quite attractive. God had given her two bright, 
sweet little girls; but her own life had been wrecked. 
She was as vile as vile could be. Still, she had sent for 
the minister, and as we sat at her bedside and tried 
to lead her back to the Saviour she declared herself 
lost, and said : "The dance did it." 

Thus we have learned from observation as well as 
experience that we must guard the little things of life 
as well as the greater ones, if we would be finally saved. 

Since I have been engaged in the work of the minis- 
try I have received from the wives and mothers of poor 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 65 

drunkards letters that would, if possible, have made 
the angels weep, and sometimes appeals from the poor 
victims themselves. I was conducting a meeting in 
St. Louis, Mo., when that millionaire wife murderer 
came home inflamed with strong drink and in a fit 
of passion killed his own bright little boy, left his 
pretty wife dead on the carpet, went out and down 
the street a raving maniac, and for this awful crime 
was hanged until he was dead, dead, dead — all the re- 
sult of indulging in this habit of drink. From all these 
and many other such things I have been made to feel 
more and more grateful that I parted company with 
such things at an early age and began to try to lead a 
new and better life. 
5 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Call to Preach. 

Among my earliest impressions when a child as I 
now recall them I seemed instinctively to have a de- 
sire to preach the gospel, even before I remember to 
have heard any preaching myself, and as I grew older 
and saw and heard more, this desire increased. It 
seemed to have been born of God, born from above. 
Almost by the time I could talk, I suppose, I learned 
to sing, and as far back as I can recollect I could sing 
war songs, comic songs (such as were then extant), 
negro songs (I imagined I could beat the negroes 
singing their own songs), and religious songs not 
a few. I can remember when soldiers and others would 
give me money to get me to sing for them, and I was 
specially fond of singing the old camp meeting songs, 
such as "Old Ship of Zion" and ''Lord, I Want More 
Religion," and many other such songs. I would usu- 
ally put my whole being into the song. Often when I 
was with a company of other children where any oth- 
ers could sing we would thus spend much of the time ; 
and I would sometimes "make like" I was preaching 
to them. But while all this was true, I was by no 
means a good boy all the way, as has been seen in 
former chapters. I think, however, I might have been 
good if my associations had always been such as to 
have cultivated these earlier impressions ; but the other 
side of life was developed the more. 
(66) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 67 

When I was recovered from my backslidings, as re- 
lated in another chapter, I then began to realize in ear- 
nest that I was indeed called to preach, and hence that 
larger preparation would be necessary if I followed up 
these convictions. Of course I wondered how this 
could ever be accomplished, as I had almost no educa- 
tion and there were no means in sight with which this 
could be secured. I had by this time, with the little 
snatches of schooling I had enjoyed, learned to read 
and write, but this was about the extent of my knowl- 
edge so far as books were concerned. I did not know 
the first principles of English grammar and could not 
have added two quarters of a dollar by figures and 
given the result. I was very "green.'' and, as may be 
seen in future chapters. I was really much greener than 
I yet imagined. I supposed I must have felt like the 
disappointed Irishman who was trying to reach home 
to spend Christmas. After he had walked full forty 
miles on Christmas Eve and stopped to spend the night, 
he told the family where he was stopping that he wished 
to go five miles farther for breakfast next morning in 
order that he might reach his journey's end the sooner, 
and, stating that he was very tired, asked that he might 
be permitted to retire. When his room was ready and 
he had gone to bed and was soon fast asleep, some mis- 
chievous boys, just to have some fun, took smut and 
grease and blacked his face. When he awoke next 
morning he bounded out of bed, dressed, and started 
on his journey without washing his face. Of course 
he knew nothing of the smut. When he reached the 
place where he would take breakfast and called at the 
gate, the lady readily informed him that they did not 
entertain negroes. He said he was not a negro : but 



68 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

she insisted that he was and told him to go on off. To 
this he again replied that he was not a negro, but was 
Pat O'Galligher, at which the lady, seeing there was 
some joke in the matter, had him step in front of the 
mirror. With an air of disappointment he said : "Faith, 
and I will have to go all the way back ; they have waked 
up the wrong man." And thus I must have felt when 
called to preach, seeing I was without preparation. 
But then we must remember that it is written in God's 
Word that he "hath chosen the foolish things of the 
world to confound the wise, and . . . the weak things 
of the world to confound the things which are mighty." 
But as one of my older brothers had come home by 
this time to stay, it was thus made possible for me to 
go to school. Before starting to school, and having 
carried this burden of conviction for several months 
(although as yet I had not spoken of these impressions 
to any one, not even to my mother), I was out looking 
for some oxen one afternoon, preparing to do some 
hauling, when I met our presiding elder, a well- 
dressed, high-toned English gentleman and a great 
preacher — in fact, he was my ideal preacher. He was 
at the time I met him walking back and forth in a 
grove of great trees. I have imagined since that he 
was probably at the time preparing a sermon. When 
I approached him, I said: "Howdy, Mr. Kendall." It 
was Rev. Amos Kendall. I didn't address him as 
"brother." I had not learned to call the preachers 
"brother" yet; and I couldn't well afford to call him 
"brother" then anyway, as he was such a gentleman in 
my estimation, while I was only a poor orphan boy, 
and was at this time barefooted, with my pants rolled 
up, and in my shirt sleeves, and had on only one sus- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 69 

pender. I was really a regular "one-gallows" boy any- 
way. But when I had thus spoken to him he stepped 
toward me, reached out his hand, and shook hands 
with me cordially, as if he were glad to see me. I then 
told him who I was, and he assured me that he remem- 
bered me. and said he had met me at my mother's 
tent at the camp meeting. His kindness encouraged 
me, and I then called him "Brother Kendall." Kind- 
ness is really the cheapest thing we deal in, and yet 
a kind word or a warm handgrip has inspired many a 
young person to a life of usefulness. Dr. C. L. Smith, 
of St. Louis, told his people to go down among the 
shops and shake hands with the men at work there. He 
said they might get a little smut on their hands, but 
they could wash the smut off, while the men couldn't 
wash the handshake off. Thus encouraged, I told 
Brother Kendall I wanted license to exhort, to which 
he replied that he was very sorry he had not known 
this the evening before, that he would have gotten my 
recommendation from my Church. (He had preached 
at our church the preceding night.) Here I first 
learned that it was necessary for one to secure a rec- 
ommendation from his Church in order to secure a 
license to preach. He told me I would have to wait 
till next quarterly meeting. I regretted this, as I was 
anxious to have the matter settled at once ; but it 
seemed there was no remedy. 

However, after I left him and had time to plan a 
little I decided to secure a recommendation that night 
and go to the quarterly meeting next day, and ask for 
the license ; and so I did, making a round from one 
house to another securing names until I had a sufficient 
number to recommend me. I stole off from the home 



/O Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

folks, as I did not yet care for them to know of my 
plans. So I went to a neighbor and borrowed a blind 
mule and rode it to the quarterly meeting, a distance of 
twenty miles. But what did it matter whether the mule 
was blind or could see, if I reached the Quarterly Con- 
ference and secured my license ? If one cannot do best, 
he ought to be willing to do next best. If he cannot 
fight in the armor of Saul, if it is all too large for him, 
he should take the sling and pebble and knock the old 
giant's brains out and cut his head off. If the mule 
was blind, I got my license; and besides this, I was 
given a good home while there, and the dear good 
people soon made me feel that I was one of them by 
their great kindness to me. Among other kindnesses 
shown me, the lady where I was stopping gave me a 
.book entitled "Fred Brenings," which proved a great 
blessing to me, as it was the biography of a young 
preacher who had to start as I was then starting, with 
but little to encourage him, but who afterwards made 
a very useful minister of the gospel. 

As a sort of excuse for going to this particular quar- 
terly meeting (I mean excuse to the home folks) I had 
taken a log chain part of the way to exchange for one 
of ours a gentleman had taken off by mistake, leav- 
ing his, which was not so good, with us. So I thought 
this would be a sort of apology for going just at that 
particular time, as I had an idea that my brother in 
particular would discourage the trip. It was a very 
busy season, and he would make the plea that I was 
needed at home. They had learned of my movements, 
however, and the design of my trip before my return ; 
and when I reached home on Sunday evening my 
brother asked mother where he could find the hammer 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. yi 

and a nail. She replied that she supposed they were 
about the house somewhere, and asked what he wanted 
with the hammer and a nail on Sunday, to which he 
replied : "I want to knock two of Bud's front teeth out, 
so he can strip the chicken bones." They called me 
"Bud," and I was then a preacher. 



CHAPTER XX. 

My First Sermon. 

Just two weeks from the time I was licensed to ex- 
hort I went to our home church to hear Brother C. L. 
Bates preach. Brother Bates was one of our own 
boys, reared in our community ; but he had been away 
for some time, and had developed into a fine preacher, 
and was at the time stationed in one of our leading 
young towns. Our people were proud of him, and of 
course would give him a good congregation, which they 
did on this occasion. But when the appointed hour 
came the preacher was not there. We waited quite 
a while, but still he did not come, and still we were 
waiting, when some one came in and reported that he 
would not be there, as he had been called away to his 
charge on important Church business. When this was 
told us, "Uncle Billy" Boland turned to me, saying, 
"Brother Elias, you'll have to preach for us;" to 
which I replied: "Uncle Billy, I can't preach." He 
said: "Well, you'll have to make us a talk; we don't 
license men to do nothing." I hadn't thought of this 
before, and so there seemed to be nothing left but for 
me to go ahead and do the best I could. I arose and 
approached the pulpit. I had never done this before in 
the capacity of a preacher. My flesh fairly tingled 
with fear; but I soon went through the preliminary 
services, and announced my text. It is not expected 
for an exhorter to talk from a text. This is going 
beyond his limits. But I took this authority, and 
(72) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 73 

announced a text; and I have always felt glad that 
I chose as my first text "Whatsoever thy hand 
findeth to do, do it with thy might." I always did 
think if a thing was worth doing at all it was worth 
doing well. So I moved out, and they said I talked 
fifteen minutes. I must have scattered about consid- 
erably to have occupied so much time. But it doesn't 
matter so much if one does scatter a little if he suc- 
ceeds. 

A father and son went out squirrel-hunting. They 
soon found a squirrel. The son, who had always 
boasted of his steady nerve and splendid marksmanship, 
raised his gun and fired, but the squirrel turned to the 
other side of the limb ; he fired again, but the squirrel 
turned to the other side of the limb again. Then the 
father, who was quite palsied and couldn't hold a 
steady hand, took the gun, and said: "Let me show 
you how to kill squirrels." He raised the gun, and 
his hand wabbled all around ; but when he fired, down 
came the squirrel. The boy said: "O yes, just shoot 
all over the tree ; any one could kill a squirrel." 

Well, what does it matter if one does scatter, if he 
gets the game? When I descended from the pulpit 
my friend, Captain Beadles, said : "Elias has one quali- 
fication : he has enough brass on his face to make a 
half dozen silver watches." I didn't know this. I was 
nearly frightened to death. As Gilderoy would say, I 
had been "swallowing great bi^ chunks of nothing." 
But they did say one other thing that was somewhat 
complimentary. They said when I got through I quit. 

It is important to know when to quit. Some people 
have never learned this lesson. Call on them for a 
short prayer, and they will pray all over the world and 



74 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

pray for everything; and the same if they are called 
on to do any public service. A "white-cravated" pro- 
fessor came out from one of our cities to talk to a 
country Sunday school; and when he arose he said he 
had so much to say that he didn't know what to say 
first, and repeated this, ''I have so much to say," when 
a little boy who could hardly talk plain said: "I'll tell 
you what to say; just say, 'Amen/ and sit down." 
We should learn to practice brevity in all our public 
utterances. 

A number of other compliments were passed on this 
my first sermon. Some said: "I'll tell you, Elias will 
make a preacher after a while." You can imagine how 
this made me feel. It is best not to be elated over such 
things, though. But these earliest impressions, whether 
they were favorable or unfavorable, can never be erased 
from the mind ; they are ever fresh and will linger with 
us to the end. Of course I had many things to learn 
yet, as will be clearly shown in the chapters immediate- 
ly following. I thought a good deal about being a 
preacher one way and another, but it was some weeks 
before I was called on to exercise in public again. 



Story. — Two boys grew up in the same community. 
They attended the same school, and were often togeth- 
er in the social circles. Finally they drifted apart, and 
one became a Methodist minister and the other a Hard- 
shell Baptist. After long years of separation, the 
Hardshell was traveling through a community in a 
newly settled country one day, and, seeing a lot of 
horses tied about a schoolhouse, turned in to see what 
it meant, and on approaching the door recognized his 
friend of other days seated in a pulpit and a small con- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 75 

gregation of worshipers ready to begin services. 
When he walked in he was in turn recognized by the 
minister in the pulpit, who came down to him at once 
and invited him to preach. He at first declined; but 
his friend insisted that he should preach, and would 
take no excuse. So the Hardshell went into the pulpit 
and began the service. As soon as he commenced 
speaking an elderly lady began to weep, and the louder 
he would speak the more she would weep. At the 
conclusion of the service this same lady invited the 
ministers to dine with her, and her invitation was 
accepted. Before they had reached the home the 
minister who had preached asked his Methodist friend 
if this old lady always did this way during preach- 
ing, to which he replied that he had never known 
her to act thus before, and he was not able to under- 
stand her. This excited the curiosity of the visiting 
minister even more, and when seated at the dining 
table he asked her himself what it was in his sermon 
that day that excited so much emotion on her part. 
She replied: "When we came to this country there was 
no one except me and my dear old husband and our 
dear little old mule. After a while my dear old hus- 
band died, and there was no one left but me and my 
dear little old mule ; and when you began speaking to- 
day you reminded me so much of my dear little old 
mule, and the louder you spoke the more I was re- 
minded of my dear little old mule." And by the time 
she was through explaining she was weeping as much 
as she did during the sermon. I have related this 
story because a brother was unmerciful enough to tell 
me when I was starting out that my preaching remind- 
ed him of this storv. 



CHAPTER XXL 

Filling a Pastor's Appointment. 

Passing through a community some ten or twelve 
miles from home, I found our pastor, Rev. Ben H. 
Bounds, engaged in a protracted meeting. He asked 
me to stay and assist him. This was quite complimen- 
tary, being invited to assist the pastor, and yet I shud- 
dered at such responsibility; but the people insisted 
that I ought to remain, and so I did. Brother Bounds 
was very kind. He was a great preacher ; but he had 
certainly not forgotten how to treat a boy. I can 
never forget his kindness to me, not only then but 
ever afterwards. We were together here for several 
days — rode together, slept together, and prayed togeth- 
er. He was a man of much prayer — a good model for 
a young preacher. Our meeting was quite successful. 

At the close Brother Bounds stated that he was sorry 
he could not be at his next appointment at that church, 
as he had to be at the District Conference at Abbeville 
at that time. He said he didn't know whom he could 
get to fill his appointment. I thought he ought to know 
— I was sitting right there. He was finally reminded of 
my presence; and turning to me, he said: "Brother 
Kilgore, will you fill my appointment ?" He called me 
"Brother Kilgore" now. I answered: "Yes, sir." Of 
course I did. Why shouldn't I ? I was now a preach- 
er. In fact, I would have felt somewhat disappointed 
if he had not asked me. So now I had nearly a month 
to go on. Certainly there need be no lack of prepara- 

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Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. yy 

tion. I still thought a good deal about being a preach- 
er and having an appointment, but didn't put so much 
stress on the matter of preparation. And so the weeks 
came and went, and I still had no sermon. I had heard 
somewhere in the brush that if a man would open his 
mouth God would fill it, and he will; but there is a 
way to open his mouth. We have God's written word 
containing his will to men, and we are commanded to 
read: ''Search the Scriptures." Besides this, there is 
an abundance of religious literature in every form, thus 
presenting us with opportunity to store our minds with 
knowledge, that we may be "thoroughly furnished unto 
every good work." It is not supposed that one can 
teach philosophy who has never studied the science, 
nor can one impart knowledge in arithmetic who has 
never studied arithmetic ; neither can one be expected 
to teach the gospel who has no knowledge of the gos- 
pel. But I had not learned these things, and so went 
on, thus approaching the time without preparation. 

About the middle of the week preceding the appoint- 
ment I took down my Bible and began to look for a 
text, and, as the colored brother would say, I "hunted 
all the way from generation to revolution," but could 
find no text I thought I could preach from. Saturday 
morning came, and I still had no text. By this time, 
however, I had thought of a text I imagined I could 
preach from ; but I wasn't certain whether it was in the 
Bible or not, and I didn't know how to find a text. I 
knew nothing of the existence of such a thing as a 
concordance or reference Bible. It was some time after 
I was licensed to exhort when a brother told me I 
would have to get me a reference Bible. I didn't know 
any more what he was talking about than if he had 



yS Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

been speaking in Greek. On Saturday I went to Dr. 
Johnson, who was a Baptist preacher and a friend of 
mine, and told him I wanted him to give me a text for 
next day. He laughed at me, and said he could hardly 
find texts for himself. I didn't understand why he 
laughed ; I couldn't see where the fun came in, though 
I think I do now. I had had a month to go on, and 
didn't have a text, and it was now only one day till the 
time was up for me to preach. But I told him I 
thought I knew a text I could preach from, but didn't 
know how to find it. He got his Bible and found it 
for me in a moment. I imagined he knew the Bible 
by heart; anyway he found my text. So I returned 
home, caught my horse, dressed for the occasion, bor- 
rowed my brother's saddlebags and put my hymn book 
and Bible in them and probably some other things, so 
they would look like a preacher's, and then borrowed 
my other brother's big shawl. The preachers wore 
shawls instead of overcoats then. I was soon off for 
the appointment. But I had no umbrella and didn't 
need one specially, but then I was a preacher; so I 
stopped at the first house and borrowed an umbrella. It 
was a regular borrowed outfit. I then continued the 
trip. I rode slow like a preacher, sang "How Firm a 
Foundation," and whistled religious tunes ; and I never 
felt more like a preacher in my life. 

It was Saturday evening. I went six miles on the 
way, and stopped to spend the night with "Billie" 
Cook, a cousin by marriage, who had just previously 
joined the Church and wanted to pray in public. He 
asked me to write him out a prayer. I did it ; and I am 
sorry I didn't preserve a copy of that prayer. But he 
and his familv did treat me like a Dreacher. We talked 



Trials and 1 riumphs of a Young Preacher. 79 

a long time, and then had family prayers. This was 
right. People ought to hold prayers in their homes. 
Every Christian household ought to have a family altar, 
with prayer once or twice a day. There is very little 
danger of serious backsliding in a home where there 
is regular family devotion. After prayer he took me 
to my room. I had a room all to myself like a 
preacher, with a table and bowl and pitcher and 
else like a preacher. I went to bed like a preacher, 
turned over like a preacher, and slept like a preacher. 
Xext morning I awoke, got up and dressed, and walked 
out and looked at the chickens and garden. I walked 
like a preacher — swung along. The reader will remem- 
ber how preachers walk. I looked at my shadow to see 
how much like a preacher I looked. Did you ever look 
at your shadow ? 

Breakfast was soon over, and we were off again for 
the appointment. My cousin accompanied me. It was 
a beautiful, bright autumn day. We hadn't gone far 
before we fell in with others on their way to church. 
I heard them say : "Yonder is the preacher now." And 
I was. Some would say: "Good morning, parson." 
And I said : "Good morning, sir." We were soon ap- 
proaching the church. I could hear the mules and 
horses, and I began to feel nervous some way. I felt 
like I might have some fever, and was sorry I felt that 
way, as I had wanted to be at my best. I rode up, 
hitched my horse, took my saddlebags and shawl and 
umbrella, and walked up through the crowd gathered 
in the shade of the trees in front of the church, and 
said: "Howdy." That was the way the older preach- 
ers did. I didn't wait to talk long to any one, but 
went in, placed my saddlebags in the pulpit, and began 



80 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the service at once. There was another brother pres- 
ent who had been licensed to exhort just two weeks 
before that, and I thought it would be but the part of 
ministerial courtesy for me to take him into the pulpit 
with me. I didn't let him preach, though ; no, sir ! It 
was my appointment. 

So I soon announced my text: "Cease to do evil; 
learn to do well." Here I cleared my throat and spit, 
and cleared my throat and spit, but couldn't add a 
word. I said: "We'll have the text again, 'Cease to 
do evil/ " etc. And again I cleared my throat and spit, 
and gave them the text again. I couldn't preach from 
it or out of it nor around it. In fact, there was noth- 
ing in it for me. I guess I felt a little like the Irish- 
man who was digging the well. His wife was drawing 
the dirt, and the walls began to cave, and a great por- 
tion rolled in on the Irishman. The wife bent over 
the well, saying: "Are ye kilt? Are ye dead?" And 
he replied: "No, I'm not dead; but I'm speechless." 
I turned to the brother in the pulpit with me, and said : 
"Brother Thomason, please conclude for me." He 
arose and announced "On Jordan's Stormy Banks" as 
the song. I had already been feeling that we were in 
some sort of stormy region. He announced it with the 
air of a bishop, and told them to sing without lining, 
and they did; but when they had finished the second 
verse and begun the third, he began to talk. They no- 
ticed that he was talking, and he saw that they were 
singing ; and when they had reached the middle of the 
first line they stopped still on a high key. At this the 
speaker became greatly confused and paced back and 
forth in the stand, repeating : "I tell you to repent and 
turn to thee ; I tell you to repent and turn to thee." This 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 81 

he repeated several times, and then he sat down and 
did not call on any one to conclude. So there we sat, 
and there the people sat. It didn't look as though they 
knew what came next, and I am sure I didn't. 

Finally, however, I recovered consciousness suffi- 
ciently to call on Brother Jones to pray. Brother Jones 
was new in the business ; hence he prayed a little prayer 
about an inch long. I then arose and pronounced the 
benediction. I had learned the apostolic benediction, 
which was the best thing we had that day. After the 
sermon and all was over Brother Jones came around to 
me and said : "You didn't do as well to-day as you did 
before." I reckon I knew it. If a preacher makes a 
failure, he need not be told about it ; he is already pain- 
fully conscious of the fact. Some of the people came 
forward and asked us home with them for dinner. I 
replied: "Thank you; but I'm not feeling very well 
to-day." I felt that I would have given the horse I was 
riding if those old saddlebags had been at home. I 
wasn't a preacher anyway. I learned two lessons, how- 
ever, that day: One was never to try to do anything, 
even for God, without some sort of preparation, espe- 
cially when there is opportunity for doing this ; and the 
other lesson learned was to depend altogether on the 
Holy Spirit for help. 

I rode home that afternoon, a distance of twelve 
miles, feeling very much inclined to quit ; but other 
things came in my way of a more encouraging- charac- 
ter, and thus I was stimulated to persevere in the good 
work. I will tell the reader of some of these helps and 
encouragements in my next chapter, and will only add 
now that the trials related here proved a very great 
blessing to me in disguise. 
6 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Plagiarism and Imitation. 

(To Be Avoided.) 

Soon after the experience recorded in the preceding 
chapter, which came so near ditching me entirely, I 
heard Brother Blount, a Baptist minister, preach a ser- 
mon on "Repentance" from the text: "Repent ye 
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be 
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord." It was a clear, plain 
presentation of the subject, given in such a way that a 
child could take it in; and I carried the entire sermon 
away with me. I remembered all the preacher's points 
perfectly ; and when there was another opportunity of- 
fered for me to preach, I announced Brother Blount's 
text and preached his sermon. Of course I did not 
repeat his exact language, but I gave his leading divi- 
sions and points, and clothed these up in my own lan- 
guage. I continued to repeat this on the rounds when 
called on for a talk, probably a dozen times or more, 
until the people who had heard me more than once be- 
gan to see that it was just the same old thing all the 
time; and worse still, some of them who had heard 
Brother Blount recognized this as his sermon, and 
began to make mention of this to me and to others. 
I found this almost, if not altogether, as trying as had 
been my failure on the former occasion. It is best not 

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Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 83 

to use other men's material too extravagantly. Some 
people are apt to detect it and make it the worse for 
us. A little original thought is better for the develop- 
ment and growth of a man than much taken from other 
people. Then I have found it unsafe to try to imitate 
or pattern after other men ; it is better to be one's self. 
A brother minister related to me a bit of his own 
experience on this line, which is quite suggestive. This 
brother was broad and brainy, quite scholarly, had a 
fine physique, and withal was an able minister ; but he 
was not a revivalist. This didn't seem to be his gift. 
He had preached some five or six years, and yet he 
said if any one had ever been converted under his min- 
istry he didn't know it. This 'seemed to trouble him 
very much, and more so when he was afterwards asso- 
ciated with another minister specially gifted in this line. 
He had invited this preacher to assist him in a meeting 
in his own charge, and as he sat and witnessed the won- 
derful results of the other preacher's efforts — saw the 
altar filled with penitents at each succeeding service, 
the bright, happy conversions, and the great revival in- 
fluence among God's people — he said that if it took that 
to make success he himself was a failure, and said, fur- 
thermore, that he felt that he would like to witness 
similar results attending his own ministry. So he de- 
cided that if it ever came his turn to conduct an- 
other meeting he would adopt his assisting brother's 
methods as nearly as possible. Soon after reaching 
this conclusion the assisting minister was taken violent- 
ly ill and had to leave the meeting. They had had a 
fine service at the eleven o'clock hour, and announce- 
ment had been made for the night service with a good 
deal of emphasis; but the brother was taken sick after- 



84 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

wards and went home, leaving all the responsibility in 
the hands of the minister in charge. He said he knew 
if he returned to his own methods the work would be 
a failure from then on, if he must judge the future by 
the past, and decided that if he was ever going to use 
the other minister's methods it had as well be then as 
at any other time, and so that night he announced his 
text. His custom was to preach from notes, but this 
time he ran over his notes and finished up in about half 
his usual time. The people looked at him intensely. 
He thought he had their attention and imagined the 
altar would be full of penitents again; but when he 
concluded his discourse, called for a song, and came 
down to make the call for seekers, no one came. He 
remembered that the other brother had stamped his 
foot, and so he would stamp his, but said he didn't 
know how to do this and reminded himself of an old 
horse with the stringhalt. He was also reminded that 
the brother had slapped his hands, and he tried this ; 
but he was very awkward at this, as he had never prac- 
ticed it. Still the penitents did not come. At this 
point he also recalled the fact that the revivalist had 
stood on the front bench to exhort the people, and with 
this he ascended the front seat; but he had not meas- 
ured himself by the 1 other preacher, he being much 
the taller. When he stepped on the front bench his 
head struck the chandelier, which made a great noise, 
thus attracting the attention of the people to this and 
detracting from the interest of the service. His head 
struck the little knob under the chandelier, which came 
near knocking a hole in his head and hurt him badly. 
He had by this time gotten up a good perspiration, and 
thought it was blood running down on his face: he 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 85 

put his hand to his face to see, then sat down in dis- 
gust at his own folly, and decided he wouldn't make 
a good evangelist. Better use the talent God has given 
us. If we cannot fight in the armor of Saul, if it is too 
large for us, we may take the sling and pebble and 
knock the giant's brains out and cut his head off. 
Better use the gifts God has bestowed. ''He gave 
some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangel- 
ists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting 
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edi- 
fying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the 
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of 
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
stature of the fullness of Christ." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Schooldays. 

It has already been stated in this little volume that- 
one of my older brothers had come home to stay 
when I was licensed to exhort ; hence it was thus made 
possible for me to go to school, and I began at once 
to work to this end. Some one of my friends had 
told me it would be necessary for me first of all, if 
I intended to be a public speaker, to study English 
grammar; said I might get some one else to write 
my letters or make my calculations, but I could never 
get any one to do my speaking for me, if I expected 
to preach. This looked like pretty good logic, and so 
when I entered school (it was our home school) I 
asked my teacher to allow me to spend most of my 
time on this one study, which he did. I would read 
one lesson each day and write some, and the re- 
mainder of the time was spent on my grammar les- 
sons. I found it very hard to understand at first, but 
as time passed I began to get an insight into its mean- 
ing and merits, and made such headway that at the end 
of three months my teacher asked me to take charge 
of a large grammar class, as he needed some help, and 
stated for my encouragement that some members of 
the class had been studying two years, but of course 
they were carrying several other studies. I took the 
class and made good progress, continuing my own 
studies at the same time; and feeling that I had 
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Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 87 

learned a lesson in this — that of being definite in my 
work — I chose ever after to try to single out some 
particular study and master it before I turned loose, 
rather than scatter too much. I never had any trou- 
ble with my teachers ; loved them all, and they seemed 
pleased with my work. I think, however, I would have 
made much better headway with my studies if there 
had not been cue difficulty in my way. I was exceed- 
ingly fond of the girls — always had a sweetheart — and 
it seems to me I could come nearer losing my head 
on this line than on any other. I have often wondered if 
boys are as crazy about the girls now as we were then. 
I cannot say I can attach any special blame to them, 
if such is the case, as I suppose human nature is about 
the same in all ages. I cannot speak for others, but 
I have always thought I would probably have learned 
much more rapidly in a school for boys only than I 
did in a coeducational school. Of course others may 
differ from this. However, notwithstanding this diffi- 
culty, I went on and made fairly good progress going 
to school and teaching at intervals until a sweet, pretty 
girl got me so bewildered that I turned my whole at- 
tention to an effort to secure her companionship for 
the journey of life ; and after some months Miss Paris 
Davis, daughter of the late Dr. R. H. Davis, of At- 
lanta, Miss., and I were made one, Rev. J. M. Hamp- 
ton officiating. Of course I was never happier than 
when I realized to a certainty that I was the winner 
of this sweet prize. She remained with me and shared 
my joys and sorrows for nearly twenty years, and 
then, dying in the full triumphs of a living faith, went 
home to heaven, leaving behind with me five children, 
two others having preceded her to the better land. 



88 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Among her last words to me were: "Bring the chil- 
dren to heaven with you." This I hope to be able to 
do, even though the way seems dark and difficult at 
times. After our marriage I taught school one year, 
boarding in my own sweet mother's home, and then 
knocked at the door of the North Mississippi Confer- 
ence for admission as a traveling preacher, and was 
accepted or admitted on trial; but about this I will 
write more later. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
The Young Teacher. 

Having spent several months in school, mostly in 
the home schools, incurring considerable expense (and 
that, too, while I was without means or any one to aid 
me in a financial way), there was an opening for me 
to teach a few weeks of an unexpired term of school. 
The teacher elect had been compelled to give up the 
school on account of failing health, and the remainder 
of the session was tendered me; and although I felt 
my incompetency as yet to undertake such a work, 
still, as it was an opportunity for me to possibly secure 
some much-needed help, should I find myself able to 
fill the place at all, I felt it my duty to make the effort 
anyway, even at the risk of failing. So I went to the 
county superintendent and stood the examination — or 
at least he passed me. It was Judge Lyon, now of 
Okolona, Miss., and I have always felt grateful to 
him for giving me a certificate, although he may have 
had to bend his conscience a little to do this ; for while 
I was by this time very well up on some things neces- 
sary, still I had made but little proficiency in the study 
of mathematics, even in arithmetic, and hence I could 
see how he must have made it as easy as possible for 
me. Through his clemency I had thus secured a li- 
cense to teach in the public schools of the county in 
which I had been reared. I went at once to take 
charge of the school offered; and although I had a 

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go Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

number of pupils studying arithmetic, still I was able 
to keep ahead of them, and had but little trouble until 
one afternoon a young man brought me an example 
that I had not yet noticed. As soon as my eye fell on 
the page I saw that I would be stalled if I made the 
attempt to work it for him ; and so, to waive the matter 
without letting him know I saw any special difficulty 
in the example, I told him that I was very busy just 
then having recitations (which was true), and to 
work the others on that page, and when I had more 
leisure I would explain the one he had brought. But 
I managed to keep excessively busy the remainder of 
that afternoon, and did not reach him any more, but 
told him we would do the sum the first thing next 
morning. I went to my boarding place (I was board- 
ing with an old teacher, and hence felt pretty com- 
fortable, knowing I could get help if I should fail at 
any time on anything myself). That evening when I 
reached my room I went to work, and spent till supper 
time trying to do the sum, but failed. When the old 
teacher came in (it was Uncle Garlton Howard, as we 
all called him), I told him of my trouble and asked 
his help. He readily consented, as I knew he would 
do. But after working at it himself several hours he 
gave up in despair and seemed greatly worried over 
the matter. So there I was. What would I do? To 
go back next morning and inform my pupil that I 
could not work the example would be ruin to me there, 
or at least I thought so, and I still believe it would. 
I slept but little that night, and just an hour before 
day I borrowed the old teacher's horse and rode to 
the home of my old preceptor, Prof. J. A. McArthur, 
and just at daybreak I called at his gate and informed 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 91 

him of my embarrassment and asked his assistance. 
He invited me in, and when we were seated together 
he had not made a dozen figures on the slate when the 
whole thing opened up to me and appeared as easy as 
could be, and I wondered why I had not seen it be- 
fore. The Professor then informed me that I could 
work almost any example ahead of me by the same 
rule. I returned to the school that morning and called 
the young man to me and worked and explained the 
example to him as though I had been master of the 
situation, and neither he nor any other pupil there ever 
knew that I had found the least trouble. "Where there 
is a will there is a way." This also proved a blessing to 
me farther on, for when I returned to school myself 
I made a specialty of this study, and in the next school 
I taught I was thoroughly prepared in this particular 
line. So this was another blessing in disguise. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
My First Meeting. 

Turing the year spent at the old home teaching 
school, after my marriage, I was solicited by some of 
my patrons and the people to hold a protracted meeting 
in the schoolhouse where I was teaching. It was 
some distance from the regular church, and there were 
a number of good citizens who had never been con- 
verted or connected themselves with any Church; and 
so there seemed to be an opening for a good work 
there if a proper effort were made and the right things 
could be done. So, after some consideration, although 
this seemed quite an undertaking for one with so lit- 
tle experience in this line of work, I decided to make 
the effort, and began at once to plan for the meeting. 

Some preparation was necessary in fitting the house 
for this new use, and other arrangements would have 
to be made also. I succeeded in securing some local 
preacher help, and in due time we began the meeting. 
There was a deal of sickness in the community, and 
it looked as though everything had conspired to mili- 
tate against us. The meeting was to begin on Friday 
night, and there were only five persons present — one 
woman, four men, and possibly one or two children. 
The outlook did seem a little gloomy, to say the least 
of it; but the time had been announced and prepara- 
tions all made. So we continued, even against the 
odds, trusting God for the results. Somehow I felt 

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Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 93 

that the sickness in the neighborhood would subside 
and the other difficulties be removed, so that we could 
and would have success, and my faith was not disap- 
pointed. We hadn't gone far in the work before the 
congregations began to grow and interest to increase, 
and before the fourth day had closed several conver- 
sions had been reported, among the number one of my 
own brothers and one or two of my older pupils. Of 
course I felt abundantly rewarded for what I had done 
in the work; but the interest still increased, and on the 
morning of the fifth day Mrs. Abney came to me and 
said she would be glad for me to talk to the Judge, re- 
ferring to her husband. Judge Abney was sixty-eight 
years old, a man of large experience and extensive 
reading, and withal a great politician ; indeed, he was 
a man of strong intellectuality, but he was a great old 
sinner. He seemed to have no love for the Church 
and but little respect for the ministry. If he ever at- 
tended church, it was only that he might collect a 
crowd about him in the shades of the trees and discuss 
the political issues of the day; and if the minister in 
charge or the Church people didn't do to suit him, he 
would go away in a rage, and pour forth a volley of 
vituperation and abuse that would make one's flesh tin- 
gle if he had any sympathy for the Church. This was 
the character of the man I had been asked to approach 
on the subject of religion; and I but little more than a 
beardless boy ! 

The reader can easily imagine how I would shud- 
der at the thought of such thing. But the responsibility 
had been laid at my feet, the burden was upon me, 
and I could not shake it off; and while I dreaded it. 
still I seemed to see this as the only decided opportunity 



94 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the old man would ever have to return to God. I felt 
that God had chosen me as the instrument by which 
this was to be accomplished; and so, feeling weighed 
down with the worth of the man's soul, I asked him to 
take a walk with me, which he very readily consented 
to do. We walked some distance to a big spring. 
(The schoolhouse was on his land.) When we were 
seated together at the spring, we were soon engaged 
in conversation about the spring, the weather, the 
crops, about stock, and, indeed, about almost every- 
thing but the thing I went there to talk with him 
about — the interest of his soul. If the reader ever 
wanted to ask an old man a question and didn't know 
how to get at it, he can have some idea of my feelings 
that day. Finally, however, I mustered up all the 
moral courage within me, and asked him pointedly if 
he did not feel that he ought to be a Christian. To my 
great surprise and still greater relief, he assured me 
that this was the question that was then concerning 
him most. He said he knew he couldn't have very 
much longer to live ; and while he regretted to have to 
offer the Lord such a little fragment of his time, still 
he didn't want to be lost. He said, however, that we 
had more or less excitement in our meeting, and that 
he couldn't stand excitement of any kind; said he 
could pray better down there in the leaves than he could 
elsewhere. Seizing the opportunity, I replied: "All 
right, Judge; let us engage in prayer together." And 
so we did. I led the prayer, of course; and when it 
was ended, I saw the Judge brush the tears away and 
felt encouraged. We walked back to the place of wor- 
ship together, and at the close of the sermon I went to 
him in the audience and asked him if he wouldn't go to 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 95 

the altar with me, at which he shook his head. I re- 
turned to my place; but when I saw him at the next 
service in his accustomed seat, I felt certain that it 
would be safe to approach him again, and so I did; 
but he again shook his head. I said: "Judge, I'm 
mightily interested in you; won't you kneel here and 
let me pray for you ?" His reply was : "When you call 
to prayer, I will." I stepped back into the altar and 
stated that we were going to prayer and if any persons 
would like to be remembered we would be glad to make 
special prayer for them if they would kneel, to which 
Judge Abney responded favorably, as he had said he 
would do. It was probably the first time he had knelt 
in church in fifteen or twenty years ; but he kept yield- 
ing more and more until two days later. My mother had 
asked me to preach from a certain text; and while I 
was not much accustomed to making sermons on short 
notice, this was mother's request, and then the text pre- 
sented itself to me as an easy one, and I therefore 
made sufficient preparation with it to take the risk 
and announce it for the hour. When I had gone 
through the first, second, and third divisions, and was 
dwelling on the fourth, "Whosoever will, let him take 
the water of life," etc., the Judge arose and asked per- 
mission to talk, which, of course, .was granted ; and in 
a few words he made full confession and declared him- 
self on the Lord's side for the rest of his days. He 
was powerfully converted, and prayed in public before 
that service was closed, praying an able prayer. As 
a matter of course, there was much rejoicing on the 
part of the Church, and the work swept on to greater 
victory. 

I have related all this in detail to show the reader 



96 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

how the Lord can and will use us if we will put our- 
selves in his hands and follow where he leads, al- 
though the way may seem quite uninviting. 

The above meeting resulted in the conversion of a 
great many souls, my two brothers being among the 
number. Judge Abney became a very efficient work- 
er in the Church during the remainder of his days 
on earth, and three years later closed his life work and 
went to his reward. But others lived to work much 
longer, and some are still living, after twenty-five years 
have come and gone, and are still faithful to their 
vows, filling good places in the Church and directing 
their homes for God. 



Illustration. — We have this story of a gentleman 
who was making a visit to an asylum. When he 
had been shown around on the inside and was in the 
act of leaving, having passed out at the gate, he saw 
a large man standing near by with his eyes set on him, 
and as he looked more carefully he was convinced that 
the man belonged on the inside. He began to walk 
away, and this dreaded individual started toward him. 
He quickened his steps, and when he turned to look 
again the man almost had hold of him. This fright- 
ened him so that he ran with all his might ; and when 
he looked again and saw that the wild man was nearly 
on him, he stumbled and fell, and the man stooped 
down over him as he passed and touched him, saying : 
"O yes, I got your tag." Thus we have found that 
when we have been afraid of men — afraid to approach 
them on religious subjects, and sometimes afraid to 
come nigh them, as recorded in our preceding chap- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 97 

ter — they are, in fact, easily approached, and are often 
very glad to converse on these lines and are themselves 
believers. So all the scare is only evidence of moral 
cowardice on our part. The Lord will never impress 
us to do a thing without preparing the way for us to 
do the work. 
7 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Conference, 

As my application to the Conference for admission 
on trial into the traveling connection has been re- 
ferred to, it might be interesting to the reader for me 
to tell him more about this. It was during this same 
year that I had, in company with my young wife, at- 
tended my first District Conference, and this to me 
was a great occasion. I had never seen one of our 
bishops before, and here I enjoyed this privilege. 
Bishop Keener presided, and there was so much dig- 
nity in his bearing and there seemed to be so much 
wisdom in all his words that I went away wonderfully 
impressed with his greatness as a man, and in this I 
was not mistaken. Then the social fellowship of the 
brethren, the sermons they preached, and the delibera- 
tions of the body in a general way all left a lasting 
impression on my young, untrained mind and heart. 
But it still remained for me to meet the larger body 
and be more profoundly impressed with the greatness 
of our Church. I left home on Saturday evening, so 
that the whole trip to the railroad, a distance of twen- 
ty-two miles, would not have to be made on Sunday, 
as it was necessary for me to be at the seat of the 
Conference on Monday for the examination. The 
Conference was held that year in Holly Springs, a 
distance of sixty miles by rail, and I suppose the read- 
er will not be greatly surprised when I tell him that 

(98) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 99 

I had as yet never been on a railroad train. This, 
among other things, was to be a new experience to me, 
although I was then a married man with a wife and 
one child, our firstborn being just two weeks old 
when I left home for Conference. Thus new experi- 
ences were coming to me in quick succession. I 
reached the station on Sunday evening, as planned, 
and spent the night in the home of our old friend, H. 
L. Fly, whose home has always been headquarters for 
the preachers at CofTeeville, Miss. There was much 
talk that night of the Conference and the preachers 
and their charges, etc. The next morning, after a 
good night's rest, a delightful breakfast, and good 
cheer on the part of Brother Fly and family, we board- 
ed the train for Conference and sped along at a rapid 
rate. I can never forget the sensation created in my 
own mind by this new experience. It appeared to me 
that it would take all the thoughtfulness and all the 
care of all on board to hold the train in its place, and 
it seemed very strange to see some people engaged in 
reading and others in careless conversation, when I 
was almost holding my breath to be sure nothing seri- 
ous would happen. On we went, passing different 
stations until our conductor called out "Holly Springs/' 
and our company began to gather up their valises and 
other belongings to leave the train. We were soon 
off and assigned to our homes. My home was at 
Major Hooper's, a mile and a half from the church, 
in the northwest part of the city — in fact, out of the 
city — and it was very cold weather through the entire 
session ; but I don't think I missed a service or any- 
thing of the kind during the entire time. While the 
distance to my boarding place was some consideration 



ioo Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

during such weather, yet the largeness of the hos- 
pitality of the home after we would reach it, and the 
very kind way in which we were treated, served as an 
indemnity for the long walk through the cold. Brother 
Waters, who has long since gone to his reward, was 
my roommate, and we felt that we had the best place 
to stay anywhere about Holly Springs, and so we 
have always found it. There is some good along 
the way as well as evil. Most of Monday was spent 
in the examination room, and everything moved along 
very pleasantly indeed. In fact, we found even the 
members of our examining committee to be good, 
whole-souled, jolly fellows, and were having some real 
lively times with them, and there seemed nothing but 
sunshine ahead, when suddenly we were greatly 
shocked and grieved by a telegram that was handed to 
the chairman of our committee announcing the death 
of our dearly beloved Bishop Marvin. He was ex- 
pected to be present at this session of the Conference, 
and had been announced to preach the Thanksgiving 
sermon. Those of us who had read in the Christian 
Advocate his letters, which were afterwards put into 
book form, entitled "To the East by Way of the 
West," had looked forward with great pleasure to 
this time when we hoped to see him; but now that 
this message of his untimely death had come, it was 
not surprising that Conference business was all sus- 
pended for a time and the whole Conference was in 
mourning. When the shock was somewhat over, 
business was resumed and the sessions went on from 
day to day until all was completed, and we were ready 
to return to our homes with our appointments for the 
year. It was truly a great occasion to me. I had 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 101 

never heard two hundred preachers and laymen and 
women and a host of others all join in singing God's 
praises before, and it was simply glorious. The im- 
pression made could be nothing less than great. I 
was assigned to the Saltillo Circuit. I had never 
heard of Saltillo before; didn't know there was such 
a place in the world ; but soon learned by inquiry 
where it was and what it was to some extent. But of 
this I will write more in a future chapter. I was soon 
at home again to report what had happened. It 
seemed almost an age since I had seen my wife and 
little babe, and I was very glad to be back with them. 
In fact, that was the greatest baby in the country then. 
We thought we had already named her; but when I 
returned and reported the death of Bishop Marvin, 
her grandmother would have us add Marvin to her 
name, which we did, and she now bears that noble 
name. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Circuit Rider. 

After my return from the Conference and a few 
days spent at home, and when our baby was just four 
weeks old, I took my wife to her father's, a distance 
of twenty miles, to spend a couple of weeks while I 
could go and arrange for them on the new work. 
The distance from there to my work was about sixty 
miles. Dr. Davis, my wife's father, accompanied me 
twelve miles of the way, as he had business in that 
direction, and he seemed to feel great sympathy for 
me, as I was going out a stranger among strangers. 
The work of a Methodist preacher was, he said, one 
of perpetual sacrifice and privation, and so I have 
found it to a very great extent. I dined at Houston 
with Rev. H. E. Smith, who had served as our pastor 
the past year, and who with his Christian wife spoke 
words of encouragement to me. I then proceeded on 
my journey alone to Okolona, where I was entertained 
for the night in the home of my presiding elder, Rev. 
T. Y. Ramsey, who has long since gone to his new 
home in heaven. Brother Ramsey was truly a cul- 
tured Christian gentleman, and his wife was a very 
amiable woman. Theirs was a lovely home. His eld- 
est son is now an able minister of the gospel and a 
member of the Little Rock Conference. Brother Ram- 
sey directed me to Brother Dave Mourman's (one of 
my stewards) for the next night. This would bring 
(102) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 103 

me into the bounds of my own charge and within two 
miles of my appointment for the following Sabbath. 
When I reached Brother Mourman's I found his resi- 
dence to be one of the best-built country homes I had 
seen anywhere. It was elegantly furnished. I sup- 
pose I might have felt a little vain over this for a be- 
ginning, as I found Mrs. Mourman to be quite an 
accomplished lady, with servants for everything, and 
the other members of the home up-to-date in even- 
particular. But my vanity was somewhat disturbed 
before I had time to enjoy it at all. When I rang the 
door bell an elderly gentleman, well-dressed, cleanly 
shaven, with his silvery locks smoothly brushed, an- 
swered to my call. When I introduced myself he said, 
"Yes, our new preacher, I suppose," and seemed quite 
glad to see me. He invited me in, and told me to set 
my saddlebags aside and be seated on the sofa. He 
said he knew that I must be tired. In this he had made 
no mistake, as I had ridden thirty miles on horse- 
back through the prairie mud, and that too without 
dinner, and hence was quite glad to reach this elegant 
place to rest ; and was feeling good over it when, about 
the third question, Brother Jones (for this was his 
name) asked me where I was from. I told him I was 
from Calhoun County, to which he replied with ap- 
parent surprise: "From Calhoun County?" Lord, 
have mercy ! He would rather have been from any- 
where else in the world than Calhoun County! He 
had always imagined Calhoun County as being a little 
corner of the world cut off to itself, and he kept poking 
this at me and guying me about it during that night 
and next morning. I remained until after dinner, but 
I met it as best I could. I soon discovered that he 



104 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was simply after a little fun, though I must confess 
it was a little trying as an introductory to my new 
work. I found great relief, however, when at the din- 
ner table his daughter, Mrs. Mourman, said: "Brother 
Kilgore, did father tell you he was from Walker 
County, Ala?" Brother Jones tried to laugh with us 
at this, but his laughing apparatus would not work, 
and he had but little more to say of Calhoun County. 
Walker County, Ala., was at that time a sort of by- 
word, even if it has since become the "chief stone of 
the corner." I will say here, furthermore, that Brother 
Jones became one of my most ardent friends, and I 
spent many a pleasant hour in his hospitable home. 
On the following Sunday I was greeted by a very 
large congregation at Mooresville and another at Shi- 
loh, and held what seemed to be very profitable serv- 
ices at both places. I spent the following week on 
the work, made the acquaintance of a goodly number 
of people, and filled another Sabbath before my return 
home to spend Christmas with our people and then 
move to our work. A few clays at home, and we were 
on the way again — this time with as much baggage 
as we could pack in our buggy. I was accompanied 
by my wife and baby. The first night was spent at 
Houston, in the home of the now sainted Morgan 
Shell, and to say that we were kindly entertained by 
him and his good wife is to put it lightly. We must 
be off early the next morning in order to reach the 
work again by Sunday. I was intent on not missing 
a single appointment, if it could be avoided. The 
weather seemed fine when we started, except a little 
cold at night. But imagine our disappointment the 
next morning when we found it cloudy and quite 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 105 

threatening. Soon after we left Brother Shell's 
snow began to fall, and increased at such a rate that 
we had gone only six miles when we had to seek a place 
for another night, stopping before noon at Warren 
Ried's, a Presbyterian home, where we were kindly 
entertained. Next day we would have gone far- 
ther, but after starting we found it so bitterly cold 
that we traveled only four miles and stopped again, 
and felt very glad there was a place where we could 
stop. I was acquainted with no one on this route, but it 
seemed our good fortune to find pleasant places to 
stay. This third night was spent at Houlka at Mrs. 
Han-ell's, whose home afterwards became one of my 
regular stopping places. Sister Harrell was a devoted 
Methodist and one of the chief supporters of our 
Church in this community. The following day w r as 
Saturday, and we had hardly gotten started. We 
continued our journey and reached old Brother Dag- 
gett's, seven miles south of Pontotoc, where we would 
leave the regular Pontotoc road and take a cross 
country route for Tupelo, and thence to Saltillo, our 
charge. Here we spent another night, and Brother 
Daggett and family soon made us feel quite at home. 
The next day being the Sabbath, we would gladly have 
spent the night, and had planned to do so, but the 
weather began to look so threatening that we thought 
best to try to go farther. I have felt sure since that 
we were wrong in this. I don't think one saves any 
time by breaking the Sabbath. I confess that I have 
tried it in one way or other a number of times, and 
my candid belief is that I have sustained great loss 
in many ways by so doing. From Brother Daggett's 
we traveled ten miles without dinner, for ourselves or 



106 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the faithful horse, and found great difficulty in get- 
ting a place to spend the night — made several fruit- 
less efforts to secure a place, and were compelled to 
cross a very bad swamp after dark. The roads were 
terrible, but we finally made it through without acci- 
dent and began to renew our efforts to find lodging. 
We drove up in front of a nice-looking home and 
called. The lady came to the door. I told her we 
would like very much to spend the night with them, 
to which she replied that they could not accommodate 
us. I inquired as to how far it was to a place where 
we could probably stay. She supposed it was not more 
than a mile or two. I then insisted that if it were 
possible for them to take us in we would certainly 
appreciate the favor very much, that we were very 
cold and I had my wife and a little babe with me, and 
for their sake would be glad to stay. The lady then 
said she would see her husband, and it seemed that 
she was gone an age. I was never nearer frozen in 
my life ; and as for Mrs. Kilgore and the baby, I sup- 
pose it was but little better, though they were probably 
better wrapped than I was, and had not been compelled 
to get in and out of the buggy in the mud so much 
as I. Still it was very bad on them too. Finally the 
lady returned, and said she supposed that they would 
have to take us in ; and it may be known that I was not 
long getting the loved ones out of the buggy. We 
were soon at a warm fire ; and as we had so far missed 
dinner and supper, I began to feel that the next best 
thing would be a good warm supper (but anything 
would have been acceptable), and as I kept hearing the 
dishes rattling my desire on this line was greatly in- 
creased ; but when I thought they had had quite suffi- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 107 

cient time to make such preparation as they might 
think necessary, to my great disappointment they sug- 
gested that it was about time to retire, and invited 
us to our room. Our bishop had said just before read- 
ing out the appointments, after having made some 
other remarks, that he had always noticed that Meth- 
odist preachers got along about as well as anybody 
else. I had related this at home on my return from 
Conference. When we had reached our room that 
night, without supper and not having had any dinner 
either, my wife in a regular frolic of fun laughed at 
me and said: "Methodist preachers get along about as 
well as anybody else." I confess I could not see where 
the fun came in, but was glad nevertheless that she 
seemed to take such hardships so easily. We had an 
old lunch with us, prepared by her mother, and now 
five days old and frozen, but we thawed up some of it 
and ate enough to meet the necessities till morning, 
when we were given a nice warm breakfast. We 
were invited to call again in passing, and so went on 
our way. That night, after another hard day's drive, 
the weather still being quite cold, we found ourselves 
among our own members, but still not quite to the 
end of our journey. A short drive next morning 
brought us to our home. I had only secured a board- 
ing place, as I had failed to find a suitable house for 
rent, and the charge had no parsonage. There were 
few parsonages in those days. So we boarded some 
and visited a good deal. In fact, soon after reaching 
the home where we were to board I found that the 
head of the household, although a local preacher in 
our Church, was given to very obscene language, in- 
dulging in vulgar jokes and anecdotes, and I very soon 



io8 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

decided that we would seek other quarters, which we 
did, and it was but a little while until this same man 
was in trouble and was compelled to leave the country 
between two suns. Such is usually the career of such 
characters. I never could endure vulgarity. As al- 
ready stated, we spent much time visiting among our 
members, and my wife spent part of the year at her 
father's and my mother's, and so the year passed. I had 
eleven preaching places ; held meetings at all of them. 
We witnessed a large number of conversions and a 
good work in every way, although we had to undergo 
many hardships. At the end of the year the people 
asked for my return to the work for another year. 
I don't know just why they did this, but they really 
had treated us as kindly, I suppose, as they felt able, 
and we learned to love many of them very much. 
This was especially true of dear Brother Bolding and 
family, of Saltillo. Better people never breathed the 
breath of life. Here was where Rev. G. W. Gordon 
found his noble little wife. Then I might mention in 
this connection the names of the Wests, the Burgeses, 
the Pearces, the White-sides, the Griders, the May- 
fields, and many others whose deeds are remembered 
and whose names will ever be cherished as among those 
who have helped us on our way. 

Now I have recorded these things in this chapter 
that the reader may have some slight insight into the 
mixed experiences of a preacher's life. It is not all 
sunshine, nor is it all shadow. The victories won and 
the hope of a reward on the other side inspire him to 
greater efforts and help him to bear these burdens. St. 
Paul, speaking of the ministers, himself with the rest, 
says, "What is our joy or crown of rejoicing?" and 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 109 

then answers this question in the form of another ques- 
tion : "Are not even ye in the presence of Christ at his 
coming?" So it is : we expect to meet again with those 
with whom we have labored here. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
My Second Year in Conference. 

Our North Mississippi Conference held its annual 
session this year at Macon. I made the trip from 
Atlanta, Miss., to Macon and return on horseback. 
I had worked a hired horse the year before on the 
Saltillo Circuit, and paid twenty dollars for the use 
of it; and my work of eleven preaching places (nine 
regular Churches) had paid me only one hundred and 
eighty-five dollars, including a small missionary ap- 
propriation. Out of this, after meeting my other ex- 
penses, I was able to pay this rent for the horse, and 
had enough left to pay forty-five dollars in cash for 
a small horse, bought at a public sale, and money 
enough to fit me up for Conference ; and so I rode 
my new horse to Conference on his trial trip. It was 
rather a long, wearisome trip ; but the preachers did 
most of their circuit travel in this way in those days, 
and it was not considered a hardship for it to be so. 
I was late, however, reaching the seat of the Confer- 
ence, and hence did not go before the examining 
committee, and was therefore continued in the class of 
the first year; but the following year I brought up 
both years, and hence lost no time. 

The Conference at Macon left its usual impression. 

Our connectional officers were well represented here, 

and my conclusion was that "there were giants in 

the land in those davs." I was entertained here in the 

(no) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, in 

palatial home of Sister Ballard, near the church where 
the Conference was being held, and had a royal good 
time. At this session I was assigned to the Fulton 
Circuit, adjoining the one I had served the preceding 
year. I was soon back at home ; and after a few days 
spent again with the loved ones there, we were again 
on our way to our new field of labor, although it was 
almost like going back home, as we were traveling in 
the same direction and I would preach at one church 
only three miles from one point on my old charge ; be- 
sides this, I had already assisted the former pastor in a 
meeting at Fulton a few days, and hence was partially 
acquainted with those who were to be my parishioners 
for the incoming season. 

This time we took part of our household goods, as 
I had secured rooms where we could use our own fur- 
niture, and thus reckon ourselves at home, although 
we took our meals with another family and paid board. 
My brother took us the greater part of the way. He 
intended to make the full trip ; but we had such tough 
luck en route that he was compelled to leave us at the 
first station on the M. & O. Railroad (Verona) and 
return to his family, as he had left some of them so 
very unwell. On the way we had spent the first night 
at Sister Harrell's, at Houlka, where we had found 
good lodging, and were well on the way in the second 
day's journey, when, after already having a great deal 
of trouble, miring down a time or two and having to 
prize out, losing a good part of the day, late in the 
afternoon we stalled in the middle of a great pond of 
water. After working and prizing some time as best 
we could, there seemed nothing left to be done but get 
my wife out of the wagon and find a place for her and 



112 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the little one until something further could be done. 
The weather was again quite cold and threatening 
snow ; but my brother had to strip off his shoes and 
roll up his pants above his knees and wade in the 
water until he could take our team loose from the 
wagon and hitch another fresh team to the load, this 
new team having been secured by riding at least 
two miles in search of some help. Having now got- 
ten out of this trouble, we had four or five miles 
yet over muddy roads before we could reach a place 
to stay. I had ridden into the water when we were 
stalled and had taken my wife behind me on my horse 
and carried her to the nearest house until we could do 
all that had to be done; then we had to go for her 
and readjust things before we could go farther. But 
for all this, we drove into Verona a little after dark; 
and although we were muddy and by no means pre- 
sentable, yet we found a warm welcome in the home 
of that broad-minded, big-souled Methodist preacher, 
Rev. J. B. Stone, who, with his good wife, seemed to 
do all he could to make us forget the trials of the way. 

Here my brother left us next morning for his re- 
turn trip, we took the train for Tupelo, were carried 
out from there on another wagon to our boarding place, 
and thus had another taste of the variety of a preach- 
er's life. 

But, as has already been noted with reference to 
our reception in Brother Stone's home, there are many 
good things as well as evil along the way. Now we 
were on our new circuit, with eleven preaching places 
again, including schoolhouse appointments, and had 
gotten the work very well in hand when at the first 
Quarterly Conference this (Fulton) work was consol- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 113 

idated with the Saltillo Circuit, where I had served 
before, and I was placed in charge of the whole work 
thus united. This gave me twenty-one preaching 
places a month, one appointment having been dropped 
from the Saltillo charge. In the circuit as then ar- 
ranged there were nearly nine hundred members, and 
among them nine local preachers ; hence it was not 
very astonishing that "Gilderoy" dubbed me "presiding 
elder.' , 

On the Fulton side of the consolidated work, as on 
the other side, we had some noble men and women. 
The Bettses, the Gaithers, the Stones, the Spencers, 
and many others are yet remembered as among the 
very best people, and "Uncle Mack," as we called him, 
referring to Brother Cummings, was a regular team 
himself; and if I would write as touching the local 
preachers, I could have nothing but words of praise 
for them all. Uncle Ren Turner, Uncle Steve Gilmore, 
and Brothers Martin and Lloyd, though on the old list, 
were nevertheless helpful in the work ; but more par- 
ticularly Brother McDougle, Mark Pearce, and Dr. 
Mayfield, who always rendered very valuable help to 
the young pastors sent to that work. We loved them 
all. While the year's work was very heavy and labo- 
rious, our labors were crowned with rich results. Rev. 
Amos Kendall was our presiding elder that year, and 
gave us as much of his valuable time as possible, 
spending ten days at one time with us ; and one could 
hardly fail of success with such backing as this. Take 
it all in all, we gather up many of the things of the 
year 1879, spent on this circuit, as among the most 
pleasant reminiscences of life, and expect to meet 
many of those good people in the sweet bv and bv. 
8 



114' Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

We had some trials while here as well as all the 
good mentioned. First, the memorable storm which 
struck Brother Gillespie's home, where we were stay- 
ing, and in my absence so frightened my wife that she 
was left almost a nervous wreck, and I think she hard- 
ly recovered from the shock the remainder of her life. 
Then our little daughter came very near leaving us 
here, lingering days and days on the very brink of the 
last river ; but by the faithful care of good Dr. Phipps 
she recovered, and still lives to bless and comfort my 
life. Dr. Phipps was not a Methodist, but I learned 
this year more than ever by my associations with the 
Ellisons, the Claytons, and others of other denomina- 
tions that a preacher can have friends among other 
people, if he will show himself friendly, and still be 
true to his own Church. I have always had good 
friends from other Churches and have never at any 
time been any the less a Methodist. 

I don't think I would do myself justice to close this 
record of my work in the above-named charge with- 
out making mention of my very pleasant associations 
during this pastorate with Dr. Tom Bogan and his 
estimable family. My loved ones and I spent many 
happy hours in their home. When I first went to 
the Saltillo Circuit, among the first men with whom 
I became acquainted was Dr. Bogan, and I think at 
our first meeting he asked me for his Church letter. 
I had not become acquainted with him sufficiently to 
know why he wanted to sever his connection with us, 
and therefore waived the matter for the time, telling 
him I would attend to it at a convenient time at some 
later date if he still desired it. I soon learned that he 
was permanently located where he was, and, with his 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 115 

consent, deferred his case from time to time until I 
had gotten the work well in hand and had had time 
to cultivate his acquaintance further ; and so things 
continued until our summer meetings were over and 
Mooresville Church had been visited with a great re- 
vival of religion. A large number had been added 
to the roll of membership. He expressed his thanks to 
me more than once for having withheld his certificate. 
Some of his friends told me he had intended to unite 
with another denomination, but of this he had not in- 
formed me. At any rate, by this postponement we 
saved a very valuable member to our Church. It is not 
well to grant letters too hastily. 

I wish time and the patience of the reader would jus- 
tify me in making personal mention of other friends 
and recording many interesting incidents of these two 
years spent in this charge ; but as it is not expected 
that all the history and events of two such years would 
be put in one or two short chapters of a work like this, 
I must pass over many of these things and only write 
of one particular meeting, which was rather remark- 
able in several respects, which I will do in my next 
chapter, and then pass on to other fields of labor 
through which the Lord has led us. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
A Remarkable Meeting. 

When I took charge of the Saltillo Circuit I found 
one Church called "Center Star/' with one of the best 
houses of worship on the work and in a good commu- 
nity ; but it was awfully run down. They had paid my 
predecessor only one dollar — just one dollar, I was 
told — and he was a good preacher and a good man. 
This church was our property and out of debt. About 
four miles north of this there was a union house of 
worship, built for everybody, but deeded to nobody. 
One after another as many as four different denomi- 
nations had organized there, all weak, and a fifth de- 
nomination came in for the fifth Sundays. So every 
Sabbath was occupied at some hour; and instead of 
union, as the name indicated, there was nothing but 
division and strife, as is nearly always the case with 
these so-called "union" churches. There is generally 
more criticism of each other's methods and assailing 
of each other's doctrine at these places than elsewhere. 

We found it so at this place to an unusual extent. 
The Hardshell Baptists would ridicule John Wesley 
and his followers, the Missionary Baptists would pay 
their respects to the Hardshells, the Campbellites 
would give us all a round, and when our turn 
would come we would always be asked to defend the 
Methodists. Thus things went on, and there wasn't a 
teaspoonful of religion in the whole thing. So when 
(116) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 117 

I made my third round to that place and found the 
community in a regular turmoil of bitterness and strife 
over some recent utterances, I announced to them at 
the close of our service that I would not be there any 
more; that if the other denominations could do any 
good there with such a state of affairs they were per- 
fectly welcome to do so; that, in the language of our 
sainted Marvin, "I would never return to that place 
unless the final judgment was held there," unless there 
was a great change in things as they then existed. I 
then turned my entire attention on the regular Sunday 
allotted to that part of the circuit to the Church al- 
luded to in the beginning of this chapter, Center Star, 
giving them the full Sunday, and it was only a short 
time until the season for protracted meetings. 

My action with reference to dropping the above ap- 
pointment had not been approved by all the mem- 
bers of the Church thus abandoned; but the best ele- 
ment of them felt that I had done the right thing, and 
had transferred their membership to other places. 
When the appointed time came for the Center Star 
meeting, I drove into the neighborhood on Friday 
evening, accompanied by my wife, and stopped to spend 
the night at the home of Brother Wood Pearce, a mem- 
ber of my Church, and a man very well known in all 
that section of country — a man whom I afterwards 
learned to love very much. We were given a hearty 
welcome when we reached his house, and soon made 
to feel quite at home ; but when reference was made to 
the approaching meeting, Brother Pearce told me that 
if I wanted to do any good I had as well and better go 
somewhere else, that it would be simply a waste of 
time to make an effort there, and assured me that the 



n8 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

people there did not want a meeting — to which I re- 
plied that, if they did not want one, they certainly 
needed one very badly. 

On the following morning (Saturday) we went to 
the church, wife and I, accompanied by Brother 
Pearce and his daughter. Including our company 
there were seven persons present, and it did look a 
little unpromising, to say the least of it ; but announce- 
ments were made for that night and the following day. 
The night attendance was somewhat larger, and we had 
a very good service with those who were present. The 
Sabbath dawned beautiful and bright, and it seemed 
that the Lord was on our side. The congregation was 
fairly good and the interest quite encouraging for that 
early stage of the meeting. That afternoon Brother 
Mark Pearce, my local preacher, and one of the very 
best of men every way, came into the meeting. He 
was a brother to the Pearce already mentioned. He 
preached that night; and while he preached I hid 
myself in the pulpit (it was an old-fashioned box pul- 
pit) and prayed for the preacher as I scarcely ever 
did pray during a service. I heard but little of the 
sermon, but gave myself over entirely to prayer; and 
at the close of the sermon there was a decided move 
on the part of the unsaved, and some were converted. 
I still believe that more prayer in. the pew would bring 
more power in the pulpit. 

After this we had the work well in hand ; and while 
Brother Pearce (the preacher) had to leave us for a 
day or two, still we had the Lord with us in power. 
It was on the following Wednesday, I think, that the 
writer preached from the text, "Quench not the Spirit," 
and the word was attended with wonderful power. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 119 

Among others who were at the altar that day was a 
voting man named Woodruff, who seemed wonderfully- 
wrought upon by the Divine Spirit, and refused to 
leave the altar when the service was over and dinner 
had been announced. We were having two services a 
day, with dinner on the ground. But young Woodruff 
seemed perfectly lost or dead to everything else ex- 
cept concern for his own soul, and for this he was in 
great agony. In the midst of this Brother Mark 
Pearce came on the church grounds, and some one, 
reporting the great interest in the meeting to him, 
asked what could be the matter with Joe Woodruff. 
Pearce replied : "I know what is the matter with him : 
he has been quenching the Spirit." Brother Pearce 
knew nothing as to what the text had been or of its 
effects more than what had been told him of the meet- 
ing in a general way, but he seemed to know the diffi- 
culty in Woodruff's case. He was right, as was made 
known when our young friend became satisfied and 
informed us that he had felt called to preach, but had 
been "quenching the Spirit." But after this he em- 
barked in the work of the ministry ; and while his ad- 
vantages had been quite limited, still he lived to be 
a very useful man, and did some good work as a 
preacher of the gospel, and has recently gone on to 
his reward. Joe Woodruff's name will be a household 
word in many a home for a long, long time yet be- 
cause of the life that he has lived and the good that he 
has done. "He being dead yet speaketh." 

This meeting swept on to greater victory until many, 
many sons and daughters were born unto God, and this 
Church that had been doing almost nothing made the 
best record on all lines that year of any on the work, 



120 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

and this great meeting is still talked of by those re- 
maining who witnessed the work. A large number have 
gone on to their reward in heaven. Among the very 
best workers in this meeting I now recall the names 
of Pink Hopkins and his now sainted father, Green 
Young, the Pearces, and others. I shall never forget 
their labors with us in the Lord. I am not sure but 
that Rev. B. R. East, another minister of the gospel, 
was also a convert of this meeting. Thus the work 
goes on and multiplies a thousandfold, and the wave 
for good started in that one little meeting will never 
stop until the consummation of all things. 

Thus was shown the wisdom of concentration and 
definite work for the salvation of souls rather than 
denominational strife. Some years later the Church 
that was dropped reorganized under more favorable 
circumstances, built a Methodist church, and now 
stands, I have been told, as one of the leading appoint- 
ments of the charge. They simply needed a rest and 
a new order of things. God will not honor such de- 
nominational divisions and strife ; and having witnessed 
much of such things along the way, I have felt very 
much resolved never to contribute money or influence 
toward building what is called a 
place of worship. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
Sent to Buena Vista. 

Water Valley was the place of our annual gather- 
ing this year, and the trip to Conference was made in 
company with Rev. R. M. Davis and Mr. J. M. Bry- 
ant. A more genial companion has never been born 
than Brother Davis. I have always felt glad when it 
has fallen to my lot to be associated with this scholarly 
Christian minister of the gospel — every inch a gentle- 
man — for I always come off the wiser and better for 
such association. Mr. Bryant is a successful layman 
in our Church and splendid company. His home is 
near Pittsboro, Miss. He and his wife are among the 
preacher's best friends always. 

My home at this session of the Conference was at 
Judge Badley's, with Rev. L. D. Worsham as my room- 
mate. A jolly good fellow is Brother Worsham. I 
shall never forget how I had to get down on the floor 
in our room and roll and laugh at Brother Worsham as 
he would give some of his experiences along the way; 
and then again he would make me weep and rejoice at 
intervals as he would relate incidents on other lines and 
talk of the glorious work of soul-winning. I would be 
glad to see him and talk with him again now as I pen 
these lines ; think I could gladly stop and spend awhile 
this way. 

The Conference met at the appointed hour, with 
Bishop Kavanaugh in the chair as president. He or- 

(121) 



122 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

dained me to the office of a deacon at this session ; and 
later on, at Columbus, Miss., it was my painful privilege 
to sit by him as he breathed his last and closed his eyes 
in death. He was truly a grand man and a great 
preacher. The Conference moved on with its usual in- 
terest. Dr. R. A. Young, of Nashville, was again 
among the visitors, and addressed the Conference on 
different subjects. He was at his best; and this is 
saying a great deal, for he was truly a master of as- 
semblies. Dr. Fitzgerald (now Bishop) was also with 
us here. It was the first time the writer had met him ; 
but I was particularly drawn to him then, and have had 
a special fondness for him ever since. These Confer- 
ence occasions are very helpful to the young preach- 
ers — and older ones, too, as for that. "It is good and 
pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity." 
When the appointments were announced, my name was 
read out in connection with the Buena Vista Circuit. 

When I reached home from Conference this time, I 
found that a new baby girl had come to our house; 
and later we named her Maggie Shell, for Mrs. Dr. 
Ford (whose maiden name was Shell), in whose home 
we found a resting place for several weeks until other 
arrangements could be made for us on the circuit. 
But little Maggie remained with us only four months, 
and then went back to God, who gave her. Her little 
body rests in the soil of this charge to await the resur- 
rection. 

Buena Vista was a new charge taken from the old 
Houston Circuit at this session. Up to this time the 
work as it had stood had required the services of two 
preachers, senior and junior, and got preaching every 
two weeks, though often on week days; but now it 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 123 

was divided. The Buena Vista work was formed, and 
each charge had a preacher of its own, with no junior 
preacher. Five Churches were given to the new cir- 
cuit thus created — namely, Asbury, Lake Providence. 
Saul's Chapel, Pleasant Grove, and Macedonia — and 
they assessed for the preacher in charge three hundred 
and seventy dollars. 

Some of the members were not very well pleased 
with the division of the work, as they would not get so 
much preaching; said they would pay but half the 
amount they had been accustomed to paying on this 
account. But we went on at an even tenor, having as 
little to say as possible about these differences, feeling 
sure that things would adjust themselves when the 
people became accustomed to the new arrangements ; 
and so they did. The work began to move out very 
hopefully from the very beginning, for there were 
some who were very much pleased with the new ar- 
rangements, which was helpful in starting. The con- 
gregations were usually quite large, and the people 
seemed pleased with our humble ministrations. 

When the time came for our protracted meetings, a 
great revival wave swept over the entire work, and 
hundreds were brought into the Church. It was the 
greatest revival work accomplished in this section for 
years. So said the oldest citizens. The Lord was truly 
with his people in great power. So when the reports 
were footed up for Conference this year I had an ex- 
cess of seventy dollars for the preacher's salary over 
the assessments and everything else up in full and 
running over. Besides this, we had purchased the par- 
sonage, now at Buena Vista, at a cost of eleven hun- 
dred dollars, over five hundred dollars of the amount 



124 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

having been paid in cash and nearly three hundred 
more paid soon after Conference out of this crop, and 
the crop short at that. People can usually pay when 
they are religious. 

It is due to the memory of our sainted brother, J. A. 
McDaniel, for us to state here that he made it possible 
for the Church to own this house as a home for the 
preachers. It will be remembered that the assessment 
for the preacher in charge here for the year now clos- 
ing was only three hundred and seventy dollars, and 
the brethren were afraid they wouldn't be able to raise 
this amount; and hence when the fourth Quarterly 
Conference passed a resolution to try to raise four hun- 
dred dollars for the purpose of building a parsonage at 
Buena Vista it was regarded as a big undertaking ; but 
a committee of five was appointed to solicit funds and 
plan for the work. A time was appointed for this com- 
mittee to meet, but when the time came only two were 
present; another time was announced, but only two 
were present ; a third meeting was appointed, and only 
two were present again. These two were J. A. Mc- 
Daniel and E. W. Jones. McDaniel had guaranteed 
a hundred dollars for his Church (Asbury) from the 
beginning, and Brother Jones had secured the promise 
of sixty-five dollars from Lake Providence ; but this 
was as far as we had gone. Brother McDaniel be- 
came discouraged, and said he would come only once 
more. The distance from his home was thirteen miles, 
and he was a very busy man always, but never too 
busy to attend to the Lord's business. 

So it began to look like failure, when Rev. J. T. Cun- 
ningham, passing through our charge and spending 
the night with me at Brother Jones's, said : "Kilgore, 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 125 

buy the Bean house." This is the house we did buy. 
I asked him what it would cost. He said they asked 
twelve hundred dollars -for it, but he thought it could 
be bought for a thousand, to which I replied that 
it would look like folly to try to secure a thousand 
dollars in a territory where we had failed to get a 
committee to meet to discuss the feasibility of collect- 
ing four hundred dollars and solicit contributions 
thereto; but Brother Cunningham, rather jestingly, 
kept speaking of the matter. 

Next day (Sunday) at my appointment I spoke of 
Cunningham's suggestion to some, and found that the 
people would be willing to subscribe double their 
amount if the above-named property could be secured. 
So I began at once to take subscriptions for this 
purpose, and by the following Saturday morning was 
ready to meet the committee with a subscription of 
more than seven hundred dollars to be added to the 
amounts already mentioned. When Brother McDan- 
iel saw the subscription list, he said it was "gilt- 
edged," walked over and closed the trade with Mr. 
Bean in a few minutes for a consideration of eleven 
hundred dollars, and on the following Saturday came 
with the money in full to pay for the place; but we 
met him with nearly five hundred dollars of the amount 
collected on the subscription, including the hundred 
he stood for for his Church, and so he paid the balance 
and trusted the subscription for the replacement of 
the money; and for twenty years this has been the 
preacher's home. This shows the value of one good 
man in a community when consecrated with his means 
to the cause of Christ. Brother McDaniel was a tower 
of strength for the Church in this charge ; and we 



126 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

think he has left a faithful representative in the per- 
son of his son-in-law, Mr. Barnett. He seems to have 
taken up his mantle; and so the Church continues to 
flourish. 

This year the Conference met at Columbus ; and 
again I failed to stand the examination. This time I 
was before the committee, but they could not pass me, 
as I was not prepared on the studies; but again I 
brought up the two years at the next Conference, and 
so lost no time. This was the most spiritual Confer- 
ence I had ever attended. Dr. J. W. Lambuth, who 
had spent so many years as missionary in China, was 
present, and impressed the Conference with his words 
of wisdom. Governor Colquitt, of Georgia, was also 
with us, and made a fine impression on the body as 
the great man that he was. But the thing that im- 
pressed me most, and probably proved the greatest 
good to all, was Dr. J. B. McFerrin's great sermon, 
on Sunday, on the "Witness of the Spirit." There 
were such continued demonstrations of divine power, 
even after the great preacher had concluded his ser- 
mon, that the presiding bishop could scarcely find 
a time to ordain the deacons. My home while here 
was with Brother J. G. Shull, a Cumberland Presbyte- 
rian, and I remember my stay there very pleasantly. 

I was reappointed to the Buena Vista Circuit, and 
received the appointment very gratefully, as I now 
knew that I not only had an excellent people to serve, 
but would be in the hands of one of the best boards 
of stewards that ever graced a Methodist Quarterly 
Conference. With such men as J. A. McDaniel, M. E. 
Spraggins, E. W. Jones, W. A. Mayfield, J. S. Henley, 
D. S. Rhodes, R. W. King, and Dr. J. R. Ford to look 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 127 

to for advice and support, one could not feel otherwise 
than safe, besides the hope of building on the founda- 
tion already laid. 

Of course we moved into the new parsonage soon 
after my return, and one of the first notable things that 
occurred was the advent of our first baby boy. He 
was so highly appreciated that we named him Amos 
Kendall for our presiding elder ; and he still lives, now 
a noble young man, a great comfort to my life, and, 
with others God has given me, the hope of my old age. 

Another very successful year is spent. New friend- 
ships are formed and old ones strengthened, and we 
are off to Conference again, this time at Grenada. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
Buena Vista Again. 

I was accompanied to Conference this time by two 
young ladies — my wife's sister, Miss Sallie Davis, and 
Miss Alice Jones, a daughter of one of my stewards — 
and on the return trip we were joined by my little 
brother-in-law, Rev. R. H. Davis, who died two years 
later during the session of the Conference, where he 
would have been ordained elder; but he had gone to 
join the "general assembly of the firstborn." 

The Conference here was marked by many interest- 
ing events ; but time fails us to write of all these things. 
Rev. E. B. Ramsey was our Conference host, and to 
know he had charge was to be assured of royal enter- 
tainment, and this we had. Every one seemed pleased 
with his home. My home was at Brother Dubard's, 
by request. I appreciated this compliment very much, 
as it is an honor to be entertained in such a home as 
his. One noteworthy thing at this session was Dr. 
Steel's powerful sermon on "The Preacher's Mis- 
sion." It approximated, if it did not equal, the occa- 
sion referred to when Dr. McFerrin preached at the 
Columbus Conference. Dr. Steel was elected delegate 
to the General Conference next day on the first ballot. 

At this Conference I was ordained elder by Bishop 
Paine, and the following year performed the solemn 
rite of serving as one of the pallbearers at his funer- 

(128) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 129 

al. The Lord takes away his workmen, but carries 
on his work. I had been in Bishop Paine's home fre- 
quently during his last years, and always felt that it 
was a benediction to be in his presence ; hence I felt 
personally bereaved when he was taken from us. 

I was again returned to my former charge, Buena 
Vista, and was again thankful. The year's work 
started of! in the usual way ; but as early as in Febru- 
afy a revival broke out at a regular appointment at 
Macedonia. It was a dark, drizzly day ; but the work 
was followed up at once, resulted in an ingathering 
of thirty-one souls, several heads of families being 
among the number, and the work abides. The meeting- 
was truly historic. The people were busy and the 
weather unsettled, but the meeting swept on to victo- 
ry as above recorded. If we would always follow 
divine indications rather than wait for a set time in 
the summer, we might succeed better. With such a 
start as the above, one would easily suppose that it 
would be a good year with us ; and so it was. The 
revival fire again burned on every altar, and many 
were added to the Church. 

One other meeting is worthy of special mention. On 
the fourth Sunday in June we began a meeting, as pre- 
viously appointed, at a schoolhouse near McCondy. 
The plan, however, was to meet on Monday and build 
an arbor ; but there was a Baptist church near by, and 
at the close of our service Sunday night the members 
of that Church (some of the leaders) came to us and 
asked why we couldn't hold our meeting in their 
church, and insisted that we do so. After a brief 
conference among ourselves, w r e agreed to do this. It 
was so announced ; and on Monday we assembled in 
9 



130 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the Baptist church, and continued until Friday night 
with very good interest, their people taking part and 
sharing in the results of the work. 

On Friday night we were, as we thought, honored 
with the presence of one of their ministers. I went 
to him at once to assure him of our pleasure in having 
him with us, and thus bid him welcome; but after 
telling me he regretted that he could not remain even 
through the service, he asked the privilege of making 
an announcement. So when the people were all in, 
the house being crowded, and just before our preacher 
would have announced his text, I arose and stated that 
the brother was present and desired to make an an- 
nouncement, and that we had waited till then that all 
the people might hear. He came to the front and 
stated that he only wished to announce a conference 
there on the following Saturday; that everything done 
legitimately in the Baptist Church had to be done 
through the Church Conference, and anything done 
otherwise was out of order; that in some way the 
Methodist people had come in and taken charge of 
their house of worship; that he didn't know why we 
had done this unless it was through ignorance, and that 
he hoped if such were the case we would now make 
some other arrangement. In the meantime my assist- 
ing brother had slipped out of the pulpit. When the 
brother was through with his harangue, he called the 
audience to prayer, and repeated part of his speech 
in his prayer, referring to our ignorance. With his 
hat in his hand all this time, he arose from his knees 
and went rapidly down the aisle and out. But as he 
was retiring I called to him, asking him to remain un- 
til I could explain to him why we were there, to which 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 131 

he replied, "Not to me. Brother Kilgore, but to the 
people," and was gone. 

As a matter of course there was nothing left for us 
to do but, as he said, to make other arrangements; 
and so having stated to the people publicly how we 
came to be there, and appealing to the Baptists present 
who had invited us, I asked all who would meet next 
morning to prepare an arbor to stand, and about thir- 
ty stood. I then asked all who would go that night 
to the schoolhouse, half a mile away, for a service to 
stand, and the whole congregation stood. We went 
and held the service. I preached. Brother Smith said 
he couldn't. My text was "God so loved the world." 
etc. ; and at the close we invited penitents and had 
two conversions. 

Next morning the brethren met, built the arbor, and 
had it ready by eleven o'clock. The meeting continued 
two weeks, and there were nearly a hundred additions 
to the Church. The Baptists of the community, at 
least many of them, didn't approve of that brother's 
course. The meeting hadn't ended before we had se- 
cured a sufficient amount in cash and good subscrip- 
tions to build a Methodist church ; and Ebenezer 
Church now stands as a monument to that work. Dr. 
Ford suggested that we must name the church Ebe- 
nezer — "Hitherto the Lord has brought us." For 
nearly twenty years this has been a place of worship. 
The Baptists, inspired by this good work, improved 
their church; so the community now has two good 
houses of worship, and the Baptists and Methodists 
are on the best of terms. So maybe agitation is better 
than stagnation after all. 

Altogether the work on the Buena Vista Circuit 



132 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

during these years had been both pleasant and profit- 
able. In all this work recorded Rev. J. L. Guinn, a 
local preacher, whose name has not been hitherto men- 
tioned, had rendered very valuable service. He and 
many others of the workers named in this chapter 
have gone to their reward. They now rest from their 
labors and their works do follow them. Many of the 
events of interest in this pastorate cannot be recorded 
here, but will be better known at the revelation of all 
things. Our work closes here, and we go up to roll 
call again to receive our marching orders for another 
year. 

It may not be amiss to mention here before closing 
that as many as five ministers of the gospel now filling 
important charges were converted and received into 
the Church on this work during these years. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
The General Conference and Else. 

It was during this last year on the Buena Vista Cir- 
cuit, in May, 1882, that I enjoyed the privilege of at- 
tending the General Conference at Nashville, Tenn., 
in the new McKendree Church, where I met our rep- 
resentative men from all our borders, and also wit- 
nessed some of the workings of our great Publishing 
House and visited the Vanderbilt University and other 
points of interest. Everything here impressed me with 
the greatness of our Zion. 

As my father and mother were Carolinians, I deemed 
it a great privilege to be invited to dine with the South 
Carolina delegation and make the acquaintance of Dr. 
(afterwards Bishop) Duncan, Drs. Carlisle, Darbe, 
and others. I heard great speeches from Drs. Carlisle, 
Peterson, Redford, McFerrin, Whitehead, Sledd, and 
others, and for the first time saw together all our bish- 
ops then living, though these have all crossed the river 
since. I was especially impressed with Bishop George 
F. Pierce, who would sit on the rostrum with his eyes 
closed, and seem extremely feeble ; but when some 
interest of the Church would stir him, he would spring 
to his feet and pour forth such a volume of eloquence 
as I had never before heard. He was truly a great 
man. 

One of the biggest and best things I heard, however, 
was Dr. Haygood's sermon at Elm Street Church on 

(133) 



134 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Sunday morning from Ephesians iii. 14-20. While he 
was preaching Brother Kendall twisted and turned, 
and finally said : "Glory to God !" And Gilderoy came 
around after the congregation was dismissed, and as 
he choked up and swallowed he said, "Kendall, I be- 
lieve I'll quit," intimating that he couldn't preach after 
hearing Haygood. The music at this church was very 
fine. It was the following week that Drs. Haygood, 
Wilson, Granbery, Parker, and Hargrove were elected 
to the episcopacy; but Dr. Haygood declined ordina- 
tion, as he had charge of a school in Georgia he thought 
more important. He was reelected, however, at a sub- 
sequent General Conference, and accepted, since the 
hindrances had been removed. I enjoyed the interest 
taken in these elections very much. I especially noted 
the interest the Vanderbilt boys took in the election of 
Dr. Granbery, as he was at the time one of their pro- 
fessors. 

Here, too, I met with the honorable representatives 
elect of Tennessee, and heard them discuss questions 
of vital interest to the State, as their Legislature was 
in session. A company of us also found some amuse- 
ment in climbing to the top of the Statehouse to get 
a view of the city and surrounding country. These 
were all new experiences, and hence enjoyed the more. 
I also for the first time attended high mass at the Cath- 
olic church, and was in their services every morning 
for a week. It is quite interesting indeed to a stranger 
to see a large church crowded to overflowing every 
morning at sunrise with worshipers; but such is the 
case with the Catholics. At different times I was com- 
pelled to stand in the aisle at this early hour for lack 
of room. The decorum practiced among Catholics 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 135 

is very impressive. They never turn to look at any 
one coming in, nor in any way do anything to detract 
from the worship. I have wondered what the feelings 
of a Roman Catholic would be on coming into one of 
our Protestant congregations and noting the chitchat 
that is usually indulged in by our people and, worse 
still, the misbehavior that sometimes exists. It may be 
said that they worship the tangible, which is in a meas- 
ure true ; but it would be quite an improvement if our 
people would practice a little more reverence for the 
house of God. Our Bishop Marvin used to lift his 
hat when passing a country chapel. This may have 
looked a little extreme, but better this than too much 
the other way. 

I found enough in that Conference to make me a 
stronger Methodist and a better Christian, and on my 
return trip had the pleasure of visiting the Memphis 
Conference Female Institute at Jackson, Tenn., and of 
spending a night with the now sainted Dr. Amos Jones. 
It was beautiful to see how that great company of 
girls loved and honored Dr. Jones and to witness the 
splendid work they were doing. I certainly returned 
to my charge much better equipped than ever before 
for the work committed to me. It is well for young 
preachers and people to take in such things when they 
can do so conveniently. 

Here I had another taste of the mixture of life's 
experiences, however, as on the very day of my return 
my faithful horse, one of the very best I ever owned, 
took sick and died suddenly, and thus left me afoot 
for the remainder of the year. But later in the year my 
members expressed their sympathy for me by making 
up a purse with which to buy me another horse. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Entering upon the Sixth Year in the Ministry. 

Our third year on the Buena Vista Circuit and our 
fifth year in the Conference had closed ; and although 
our official board had asked for our return for the 
fourth year, we had been assured by our presiding 
elder that this would not be done. Indications point- 
ed very strongly to the probability of our being sent to 
the western part of the Conference territory for an- 
other year ; and as we were not as well acquainted with 
the workings of Methodist Conference machinery as 
we became later, we moved part of our household 
goods to my father-in-law's, twenty-two miles in the 
direction of where we supposed we would go, before 
the Conference convened. Not that we were anxious 
ourselves to leave our old charge ; but, as already 
stated, we had been assured that we would not be 
returned, and were willing to move if thought best. 
It will not be hard for the reader to imagine how 
we felt after Conference, when we found it necessary 
to move those same goods right back by our old par- 
sonage gate in reaching our new charge ; but one thing 
we had learned, however, and that was never to begin 
to move again until we had some definite idea as to 
where we were going. The Conference this time held 
its session at Corinth, and it was my extreme pleasure 
to be accompanied by my wife, as she had never at- 
tended with me before. Bishop McTyeire presided, 

(136) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 137 

to the delight of every one. Here we first met and 
heard Dr. Morton, first Secretary of our Church Ex- 
tension Board, who afterwards held this office in the 
Church until he went to his home in heaven. He was 
truly a consecrated man and did a great work for the 
Church. We were given a very pleasant home at this 
Conference, and enjoyed the session very much in- 
deed ; but when the appointments were read out and 
my name was announced for the Columbus Circuit, 
we were very greatly surprised, and I may say disap- 
pointed, as it was so different from what I had expect- 
ed. Of course we knew nothing of Columbus Circuit ; 
but, as above indicated, we had planned to go elsewhere. 
In obedience to orders, however, we were soon on the 
work to which we had been appointed. As there was 
again no parsonage, I made the first trip alone to pre- 
pare the way. On this preparatory trip at least four 
men gave me ten dollars apiece as quarterage, stating 
that it was their custom to pay their preacher this 
amount at their first meeting after Conference. 
These were soon followed by others with similar 
amounts. Of course this was quite encouraging, and 
we didn't regret so much after all that we were as- 
signed to this circuit. Besides this, while there was 
no parsonage, we were invited at once to Capt. George 
W. Vaughn's, where we could have a boarding plnce 
until something else opened up for us, and we re- 
mained in this pleasant home three months or more 
at very reasonable rates. We found it perfectly de- 
lightful here ; but as they had agreed to keep us only 
until we could easily make other arrangements, and as 
there were other places now open, we thought it but 
proper and right to change ; so after spending a little 



138 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

time with some of our members, we moved to Colum- 
bus and rented part of a house with Elder Hatch, of 
the Baptist Church, who afterwards became a success- 
ful evangelist. We found Brother Hatch and his ami- 
able Christian wife very pleasant indeed, and remained 
with them the remainder of the year. In the meantime 
we had purchased a parsonage in Columbus at a cost 
of one thousand dollars ; but it was rented for the 
year, and hence we had to make this other arrange- 
ment. 

Among the other pleasant things that happened to 
us this year was an extended visit from my dear 
mother, who spent three months with us, this being 
the only time she had ever spent any time with us in 
our own home. 

I had soon become extensively acquainted on the 
work and in the town of Columbus, and found many 
people who were as true and noble in every particular 
as any I had ever met, and learned to love them dearly. 
Among these were Rev. John Eggar and family, Wil- 
lie Verner and family, Dr. Ervin and family, Dr. 
Hutcheson and family, the Vaughn connection, the 
Coxes, the Leeches, the Harrises, and many others. 
The Lord blessed us greatly in our work every way, 
and a great number were added to the Church. Two 
conversions are worthy of note — those of Bob Sharp 
and Frank Rowen, both heads of families. I called 
at Sharp's home to make them a pastoral visit on one 
Monday, after having preached at the church near 
him on the day before, and found him working in 
new ground and under very deep conviction. I 
prayed with him there in the field, he was happily 
converted, a consequent service was announced for 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 139 

the church that night, a meeting was begun, and 
much good accomplished. This was at Dr. Ervin's 
church, where that great woman, Mrs. Ervin. lived 
and worked, and hence it was not to be won- 
dered at that such things as the above should oc- 
cur. Frank Rowen, the other convert mentioned, had 
been a tough sinner and hard to reach, yet his friends 
seemed specially interested in him. I spent one Sat- 
urday night with him at the beginning of a meeting 
near his home, and on Sunday morning after break- 
fast I asked him to take a walk with me. After we 
had strolled a considerable distance into the woods and 
down into a deep hollow, I began talking to him about 
his soul and engaged in prayer with him. During the 
prayer he was powerfully converted, and there was a 
big meeting when we returned to the house where his 
wife and mother were. I am not informed as to how 
Brother Sharp has held out, but Rowen has served as 
a faithful steward in the Church ever since, and will 
work and pray whenever called on. Many other inci- 
dents of this year were noteworthy, but we cannot 
record them here. 

It was this year, on July 10, that the Lord gave us 
our second boy. We named him James Sykes, for an 
honored citizen of Columbus by this name. The dear 
boy has been spared to us, is now a young man 
twenty-two years old, and is developing into a lovely 
character, loved by all who know him. 

Conference convened this year at Oxford, of which 
we could find much to write about, but must pass 
over. We were returned to the Columbus Circuit for 
another year, and were soon domiciled in our new 
parsonage. Except for a good deal of sickness in 



140 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

our home this year, it would have been one of the 
most pleasant of all. Even with this many things will 
ever be remembered with the fondest of recollections. 
For the first time, however, owing to this great amount 
of sickness, our salary failed to meet our current ex- 
penses, and we were left in debt at the end of the 
year ; but this was no fault of the people of the charge, 
as they had paid their assessments in full, as usual. 
After two successful years thus spent, however, we 
were off to Conference again, this time at Aberdeen, 
of which I shall write in my next chapter. During 
my last year at Columbus our little daughter was hap- 
pily converted at six years of age, and two years later 
united with the Church. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Open Doors. 

Allusion has already been made to my call to the 
evangelistic work, and it might be interesting to the 
reader to know something more as to the nature of 
this call and the leadings of Providence which fol- 
lowed. I have mentioned in another chapter some- 
thing of the strange pressure that seemed to be upon 
me or the mysterious cloud under which I seemed to 
be passing — an experience I could not. then under- 
stand, nor can I now explain as to how it was. I 
would not like to have to be called through a similar 
experience again. There was no special visible cause 
for this, either. I was enjoying a good degree of suc- 
cess in the pastorate and was very happy in my work. 
Still, there seemed to be some leadings I had not 
sought. Up to this time I had seen but one evan- 
gelist, so called, nor had I ever heard of Sam Jones 
and his associates, and had no definite idea of that 
sort of work. It was in my study one day, in the 
parsonage at Columbus, while I was on my knees en- 
gaged in the most earnest prayer, feeling that there 
was something ahead of me I had not yet known, beg- 
ging God to make known his will to me, that it came 
to me as a revelation that I would be called out into 
the special line of work above indicated. The whole 
field seemed spread out before me for this — and that, 
too, when I had not thought of such a thing before. 

(141) 



142 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

True, I had already engaged in some successful meet- 
ings with my brethren in the pastorate on adjoining 
works, but had never been called out any distance from 
home. So when this impression came I told the Lord 
in this continued prayer that if this was his will to make 
it plain to me by opening doors for me, and I would 
try to respond to the calls or follow where he would 
lead me. I continued in a spirit of prayer during the 
remainder of the day and the wakeful hours of the 
night, asking God to lead me where he would have me 
go, as the question seemed settled as to the certainty 
that this would be my work. 

Next morning I went to the post office with a feel- 
ing of assurance that there would be a letter of invi- 
tation there for me. I seemed to be as certain of this 
as if I had already opened the letter and read it. I 
can never forget it. When I reached the office and 
opened my box, sure enough there was a letter from 
Carrollton, Miss., a distance then of three hundred 
miles by rail, as I would have to go by Meridian and 
Jackson, this being the nearest route by rail at that 
time from Columbus to Carrollton. The invitation was 
very urgent, and the time was only a few days ahead. 
Could any one have doubted the divine hand in the 
matter? Why could not Brother Smith have secured 
help nearer home at less cost? And why these im- 
pressions on my mind just at this time? These and 
many other questions passed through my mind in con- 
sidering the thing. Then I didn't have the money for 
such a trip, and it was a scarce time of the year, too, 
when I would need every cent that might come to me 
from the circuit to meet current expenses at home, and 
so I didn't know how these things could be adjusted ; 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 143 

but without the money, and not knowing where it 
would come from, I wrote Brother Smith I would 
come, trusting God for help in the matter. 

We had boarding with us two young ladies, who 
were attending school. The mother of one of the girls 
had given us a milch cow as part pay for her daughter's 
board, and I had agreed with the father of the other to 
wait until the following fall for the money ; so there 
was no help in sight from this source. Saturday morn- 
ing had come, and the weather was excessively cold, 
and the following Monday evening was the time for 
me to start to Carrollton in order to be on time for 
the appointed meeting. I left home for my appoint- 
ments in the country on Saturday evening, and had 
one of the coldest rides I have ever experienced dur- 
ing a ministry of more than a quarter of a century. 
On Sunday I had no congregations at either place I 
had to visit, owing to the continued cold. So Sun- 
day night had come, and nothing had been done, and 
there was nothing in sight as to preparation for the 
contemplated trip. I spent the night at the home of 
the father of one of our schoolgirls. On Monday 
morning he said to me that he didn't know what my 
financial condition was, but supposed I might be like 
most other preachers, without an excess of money, and 
that as he had some on hand he would have no special 
use for he had decided that if it would suit me he would 
pay his daughter's board bill in full, and paid me in 
advance for the entire session. So I had more money 
than I had had before in quite a little while. I rode 
home, a distance of fifteen miles, and arranged to start 
to Carrollton that afternoon. 

During the two weeks I was at Carrollton God set 



144 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

his seal on the work by giving us a very great victory. 
Many were saved, and a large number were added to 
the Church. I returned to Columbus in time to attend 
a meeting conducted by Rev. J. A. Bowen, and was 
most favorably impressed with him as a man who 
seemed to have power with God and with men. His 
faith in God's promises was remarkable. I had hardly 
filled my engagement on my own charge before there 
was an invitation for me to go to Starkville for 
a similar work. The now sainted Dr. Hoyt, of the 
Presbyterian Church, was there conducting a meeting 
in his own church while our meeting was in progress ; 
but the two meetings moved on with the greatest har- 
mony, and great victory crowned the work. Rev. J. S. 
Oakley, who has recently gone to his reward, was our 
pastor here, and was one of my warmest friends dur- 
ing the remainder of his life. 

In less than two weeks after this meeting had closed 
two letters came to me from Ripley, Miss. — one from 
the pastor, Rev. D. L. Cogdell, and the other from 
Rev. Amos Kendall, presiding elder of the district — 
both inviting me to a meeting at that place to be held 
in conjunction with the District Conference. I prayed 
over the matter until it was made plain to me that I 
should go (this was fully a week after I had received 
the invitation), and then I wrote these brethren that I 
would come, which I did through many difficulties. In 
fact, the question was presented as to whether I should 
have gone or not. I need not take time here to men- 
tion this chain of apparent difficulties, but will say 
that with the assistance and prayers of my loved ones 
at home and other help of the Holy Ghost I was on 
time at the meeting, and from the first service God 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 145 

signalized his presence by pouring out great blessings 
upon us in convicting, converting, and reclaiming pow- 
er. Some of the most powerful conversions I have 
ever witnessed were the results of this meeting, one 
old infidel being among the first. This was Dr. Carter, 
who was at the time President of the State Board of 
Health. His first public demonstration in the direction 
of becoming a Christian was to stand up in the congre- 
gation and state that he had for the past thirty-five 
years stood on the streets of that town as well as in 
other places and "spouted away his infidelity and prob- 
ably poisoned the minds of man)- young people and 
older ones" with his views. I have here given his ex- 
act language. A few hours later in another service 
he stood and thanked God that he had gotten back on 
the right track, and said he didn't expect to "switch 
off any more." He immediately took a decided stand 
for the right and became an earnest worker in the 
meeting; and remained faithful to the day of his death, 
as I have been informed. His conversion was followed 
by a great turning to the Lord in the town and commu- 
nity on the part of a great number of people. John 
Falkner and Charlie Thurman, both lawyers, were 
among the first who made public profession. Thus 
the work went on until a very great victory had been 
scored for Christ and the Church. 

I returned to my people and charge with feelings of 
gratitude to God for his great grace bestowed upon us 
in these meetings, and especially for the salvation of 
these precious souls. He chooses whomsoever he will 
to accomplish his work. "To his name be all the 
glory and praise both now and forever. Amen." 
IO 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
Revival at Home. 

One other meeting during my pastorate at Columbus 
deserves special mention. It was a meeting at our old 
home church. I had gone back to accompany my 
mother on her return trip from our home. The peo- 
ple of my charge had voted me two weeks' vacation, 
hence I had some Sundays at home. There was no 
appointment for me, however, as my coming was not 
known; but I attended Sunday school on Sunday 
morning and preached to those who were present, and, 
by request, announced another service for the night, 
and at this service announced for one week. At the 
end of this week there had been sixteen conversions 
among the Sunday school children. I had planned 
to close on Sunday night. At this service the sermon 
had been preached and the call made for penitents, and 
I was just ready to pronounce the benediction when 
Brother Hampton, whose memory we all cherish, arose 
and said, "Brother Elias, I wouldn't close this meet- 
ing," to which I replied that I thought the congregation 
expected it to close, but if they desired it to be contin- 
ued I could remain another week if necessary. Broth- 
er Hampton then suggested that we test the matter by 
a rising vote, and when this was done we found the 
vote unanimous in favor of continuing the work ; and 
the wisdom of this was seen in the future services. 

On the following morning the writer preached a 

(i 4 6) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 147 

sermon on "Brotherly Love," which seemed to make 
a profound impression on the minds of those who 
heard. At the night service the "Choice of Jesus or 
Barabbas" was presented as the subject of the dis- 
course. The Lord was with his servant in the minis- 
try of the word at this service in a special manner, and 
when the call was made for seekers there was a ready 
response and the altar was soon crowded with weep- 
ing penitents, and there had soon been six happy con- 
versions, all grown young men of prominent families. 
The writer has scarcely ever witnessed such a reli- 
gious demonstration as was witnessed that night. 
Leading men and women, representing different 
Churches, shouted God's praises aloud, and this was 
continued quite a while. I remember especially one 
accomplished and attractive young lady who ran down 
one aisle to the door in the large church and back the 
other to the altar, shouting at every bound, who would 
never have dreamed of doing such a thing on an ordi- 
nary occasion. But such scenes have often been wit- 
nessed when the power of the Lord was upon his peo- 
ple. Thus it was at Pentecost, according to the record, 
and thus has it ever been since. With this evidence of 
God's presence in the work and inspired by the conver- 
sion of these young men, we began with increased ear- 
nestness to save the community, and the w T ork was 
pushed until nearly seventy souls had been brought into 
the kingdom. Of this number there were twenty-seven 
heads of families, some of them being among the lead- 
ing representatives of the community and the county. I 
felt very grateful to God for his great mercy in giv- 
ing us this victory, as this was the home of my child- 
hood and where I had spent many of my school days. 



148 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Many of the converts of this meeting were my old 
schoolmates and associates of childhood and youth. 
The good old class leader, who had been faithful for 
years when there was but little to encourage, was 
sick at the time of this meeting and could not attend. 
He was extremely ill and not expected to live ; but when 
he heard the good news of this great work from time 
to time as it progressed, he was heard to say : " 'Now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to 
thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which 
thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a 
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 
Israel.' " This meeting closed. 

I was again back on my work, and was soon off for 
Conference. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

West Point and Tibbee. 

During our first year on the Buena Vista Circuit, 
five years before the events to be recorded in this 
chapter, a great shadow was cast over our home by 
the death of Dr. Davis, my wife's father. But we 
were greatly comforted in the fact that his death was 
triumphant. Among his last words, when his son told 
him he was dying, were : "If I am dying, this is 
the brightest day of my life." But we were again 
called to "pass under the rod." The Conference in 
1884 met in Aberdeen. We had closed our second 
year on the Columbus Circuit, and during the closing 
months I had been called home to the bedside of my 
mother, who was thought to be in a dying condition. 
After spending four days with her, I kissed her 
good-by, feeling that I would hardly see her again this 
side the last river; but she lingered so long that I 
had hoped to possibly see her again, and I had planned 
to hand in my report at the earliest possible con- 
venience, and then go home. On the afternoon before 
the Conference convened a telegram was handed me 
announcing the death of my preacher brother-in-law, 
who would have been ordained elder at this Confer- 
ence. Of course this was a great shock to us, and 
while I yet had this telegram in my hand our home 
preacher informed me that they had buried my mother 
on the preceding Friday. I never passed through a 

(H9) 



150 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

sadder season in my life. Friends were meeting and 
greeting on every side, but I stood in the midst of all 
feeling as lonely as if I had been a thousand miles 
from any one. In the midst of this a gentleman came 
to me and said a young lady friend of mine was dying 
at a certain home on a certain street, dying without 
hope, and had sent for me to come and pray with her. 
The afflictions which had just come to me had proba- 
bly prepared me better for successfully leading her to 
Christ, as she professed saving faith in Christ and left 
a bright testimony that she had gone to rest. Besides 
the comfort I found in thus helping one at such a 
time, mother had said to me when I was leaving her 
last: "Go on, my precious boy, and preach the gos- 
pel and meet me in heaven." All this gave me com- 
fort in sorrow. 

I was entertained during this Conference in the 
home of Col. Anderson Bean, and was treated very 
kindly indeed. At the close of the session I was read 
out for West Point and Tibbee. This was my first 
station work. I was soon on the ground, and met 
with a welcome on every hand. The first Sunday I 
was greeted by large congregations morning and 
evening. The people probably came — many of them 
at least — more to hear the new preacher than any- 
thing else ; but the Lord was with us and gave us two 
good services, and I received many words of encour- 
agement from different sources. Just here an inci- 
dent occurred which may be worthy of note. There 
was a move on foot to circulate a petition among the cit- 
izens of West Point favoring "local option," as West 
Point was then cursed with the open saloon. I was 
waited on by representatives from other Churches, 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 151 

asking me to work for the cause, especially among my 
own people, which I would gladly have done, even 
though yet a stranger to most of them ; but my ar- 
rangements had already been made to visit the old 
home to see my brothers and sisters, that we might 
comfort each other in the great loss we had so recently 
sustained. The friends of whisky took advantage of 
this in trying to make it appear that I was not in sym- 
pathy with this prohibition movement ; and when I 
returned to my charge, after an absence of a week, I 
was met by this report on every hand. But I was board- 
ing where one of the saloon men was staying. I took 
pains to make myself understood thoroughly, and re- 
peatedly I spoke as being in full sympathy with any 
measure that looked to the closing up of his place of 
business as well as all other such places, and in this I 
had the full indorsement of his own father, mother, 
and wife. So I thought with this, besides being out- 
spoken on the streets and in every place on this ques- 
tion, my position would certainly be understood from 
this on. A few days later a note was sent to the par- 
sonage, with fifty dollars inclosed, stating that, having 
heard that I was contemplating a visit to the New 
Orleans Exposition, they asked the privilege of defray- 
ing my expenses on the trip, and signed themselves 
"Many Friends." Of course I readily concluded that 
this gift was from my Church and was rejoicing in 
the fact. We had some company at the parsonage to 
witness all this. In a few minutes there was another 
tap on the front door, and two brethren, both repre- 
senting other Churches, stood before me when the 
door was opened, and stated that they had understood 
that the whisky men had made me up a purse for 



152 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

not having taken any stock in the whisky fight. I told 
them that I had just received a note signed "Many 
Friends," which I had supposed to be from my Church, 
containing an amount of money, and was rejoicing over 
it, but that if the whisky men had sent it as represented 
I would most certainly return it to them before I 
slept. I at once took the note containing the money, 
walked down on the street, met some of the saloon 
keepers, informed them of what I had heard, and 
offered them the money, if such were true. But 
they disavowed any such purpose, declared they 
knew me to be a prohibitionist, said they had only 
joined others in what some of them gave in send- 
ing me a token of friendship, and insisted that I should 
keep the money in this light, which I did. When I 
reached New Orleans I visited Bishop Keener's home 
and related the whole story to him, and he heartily 
approved my whole course in the matter. I was then, 
and have ever afterwards been, pronounced against 
the open saloon or the sale of whisky in any form, un- 
less strictly for medicinal purposes, and I have al- 
ways thought there could be a substitute for this. 
Many more people are destroyed by it than were ever 
saved. Dr. Brooks, in a temperance lecture, repre- 
sented whisky by the figure of a black river. He 
stood on the banks of this river and saw it full of men 
of every age and station in life, drifting downward 
into darkness impenetrable. He saw on each side of 
this river churches with their spires pointing heaven- 
ward, suggesting eternal life to the passer-by, with 
men and women engaged in pulling these men and 
boys and sometimes women out of this black river 
and housing them in these churches for security or 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 153 

safety; but the river was still full, and frequently 
those who had been rescued for a time could be seen 
back in this river of death. So he thought he would 
go up the stream and find where the trouble was ; and 
when he had reached the fountain, he saw strong, 
rough men laying hands on an innocent boy, just ready 
to plunge him into this awful river, while possibly a 
poor woman might be seen raising her hands in ago- 
ny, saying: "O God! Gentlemen, hands off. That's 
my poor boy, the hope of my old age." They would 
hesitate for a moment, apparently in sympathy with 
this woman, and then say: "Get away, woman. We 
don't care for your boy. It's just the money we are 
after. If it wasn't for the money, we wouldn't do 
this." Those men represent the saloon men and the 
evils attending the saloon. No wonder Dr. Brooks 
said : "Let us stop up the fountain and dry up the 
stream. This is prohibition." Let the saloon go, but 
save the boys. I am glad it has ever been my privilege 
to raise my voice against this nefarious business; and 
if I should fail to do this and one of my boys or any 
one I love were to go down under its influence, I 
would feel like rebuking myself the remainder of my 
days. But we pass for the present to other questions. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

West Point and Tibbee (Continued). 

Soon after the events recorded in the preceding 
chapter we began a meeting in our church at West 
Point, which lasted four weeks, and resulted in adding 
more than forty names to our roll of membership. 
This was said to have been the first revival of any 
note here since the ministry of Rev. D. C. Brown. 
The day our meeting closed the Cumberland Pres- 
byterians began a meeting, and continued three 
weeks, with Rev. Mr. Eichelberger as their leader. 
Rev. J. M. Keeton was pastor of the Church, how- 
ever, and was in good favor with his people. The re- 
sults of their work were very good. Two days before 
they closed the Baptist meeting began. Rev. Dr. Mil- 
ler was in the lead. Elder Naufsinger was in charge 
of the Church. They had a large ingathering of souls, 
with much good accomplished in every way. After 
two weeks' suspension, Dr. Hoyt, Presbyterian evan- 
gelist from Nashville, Tenn., began a similar work in 
their Church here, and continued two weeks, with 
good results. So we had had in all twelve weeks' 
meetings, with only one little gap ; and large gains 
had been made by all the Churches. It will be re- 
membered that the work began with us, and I threw 
myself, with such of my membership as I could con- 
trol, into all the other meetings mentioned, and as 
a result there was at the end a better spirit among 

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Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 155 

the Churches here than had existed in a long- time, 
if ever before; and our increase had been equal 
to any other one of the denominations represented. 
The Sunday schools had all been strengthened, and 
religion in general was at high tide. I found the asso- 
ciate pastors (whose names are given above) to be 
very pleasant companions in the work indeed, and we 
learned to love each other in the Lord during this 
campaign against sin. 

At the conclusion of all these special efforts we de- 
cided that it was a good time to agitate the question of 
building a parsonage in this charge. So I began at once 
to solicit subscriptions to this enterprise, and had soon 
purchased a lot and had a house in process of construc- 
tion at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars, including 
the lot at three hundred dollars, which building was 
completed and ready for occupancy at the opening of 
the following Conference year. 

During this year the writer had assisted in very 
gracious revivals of religion at Batesville, Sardis, Ox- 
ford, and Iuka — all in this Conference. Quite a num- 
ber of very interesting events might be mentioned 
here as being connected with these meetings, but I 
forbear more than to say that at three of the places 
mentioned, taken together, there were nearly four hun- 
dred conversions and about three hundred additions 
to our own Zion. 

In the closing up of this first year at West Point 
there was added to our own family a sweet little girl 
baby. We named her Scottie Mariah, for Mrs. Dr. 
Scott, of this place; but little Scottie remained with 
us only ten months, and then returned to God, who 
had given her to us, and we began to realize the more 



156 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

that our treasures were being taken from us here and 
transplanted in the beautiful home beyond ; and "where 
our treasure is, there are our hearts also." 

The Church at Tibbee had prospered greatly this 
year, and we had added one new congregation east of 
Tibbee, which they were pleased to call Kilgore's 
Chapel. With this addition a new work was formed, 
called Tibbee Circuit, and West Point was left alone to 
support a preacher of its own, and thereafter be called 
a station. Thus the year rounded up and we were of! 
for Conference. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
Conference Again. 

Kosciusko was the seat of the Conference this year, 
and the writer was entertained in the home of Brother 
John Riley, who, with his wife and three accom- 
plished daughters, made us feel quite at home. In 
fact, we were never better cared for than here. 
Rev. A. J. Foster was also a guest in this home 
with others, and where Jack Foster stayed there was 
never a dull time. Rev. J. A. Bowen was our Con- 
ference host, and right royally did he entertain us. 
Bishop Hargrove was with us as President, and soon 
convinced us that he was the right man in the right 
place. The Conference was in every particular a great 
occasion. By a previously planned effort the writer 
secured the next session of the Conference for West 
Point, and was returned to West Point for another 
year. The only sad feature was the loss of Tib- 
bee from the charge this time, as it had been set 
off in a separate charge, as was stated in a former 
chapter. I never expect to serve a more noble set of 
people in this world than are to be found at Tibbee; 
but the change had been so ordered, and we must 
yield to the inevitable. 

On my return from Conference we moved at once 
into the new parsonage, now ready for occupancy. 
During the first week we called a meeting of the 
board of stewards of this now new station, consisting 

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158 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

of J. W. Hicks, W. C. White, Judge F. A. Critz, B. 
F. McCrary, J. H. Saunders, B. L. Smith, R. C. Mc- 
Daniel — a noble body of men indeed — who fixed the 
pastor's salary this year at eight hundred dollars, this 
being a hundred dollars more than they had been pay- 
ing with Tibbee's help, which was good help — and all 
this, too, with a good parsonage to live in. Thus the 
new year started off quite hopefully, and we were not 
to be disappointed. Early in the year, with the assist- 
ance of Rev. J. A. Bowen, than whom one could have 
no better help, we embarked in a meeting, which 
proved the best of our pastorate at this place. The 
material added was such as to greatly strengthen the 
charge in a financial way as well as otherwise. Broth- 
er Bowen will never live to do better preaching than 
he did during this meeting, and he witnessed these 
glorious results. 

It was during this last year in this charge that I 
finished reading the Bible through on my knees. 
Earlier in my ministry I had read the biographies of 
Dr. Adam Clarke, Bishop Bascom, Bishop McKendree, 
and others, which inspired me to try to emulate their 
examples, especially that of Bishop McKendree in this 
particular — to read the Bible through on my knees in 
prayer, praying at the end of every five or six verses. 
When I had thus finished the last chapter and verse 
in Revelation, I found that I had been greatly bene- 
fited spiritually as well as otherwise by this experience, 
and among some of the other special benefits derived 
was a love for the Holy Scriptures. I began to feel 
that I could adopt the language of inspiration itself: 
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto 
my path." 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 159 

Our District Conference this year was at South Un- 
ion Camp Ground, in conjunction with the camp meet- 
ing, and was a great occasion. Rev. Dr. Cameron was 
our very efficient presiding elder. Up to this date in 
my ministry I had attended District Conferences at 
Houston, Pontotoc, Verona, Shuqualak, Grenada, and 
Sturgis, and this last at South Union, and they all 
proved very helpful occasions to all present. Three 
of them were made occasions of protracted services, 
in which the writer of these sketches was invited to 
take part — namely, at Houston, Pontotoc, and Verona 
— and at all three of these places we enjoyed gracious 
outpourings of the Divine Spirit and many were added 
to the Church. I had also during all this time assisted 
in meetings, not hitherto mentioned, at Aberdeen, 
Egypt, Columbus, Baldwyn, and other places, where the 
Lord was pleased to honor the work with the presence 
and power of his Spirit in the salvation of souls and 
the resuscitation of the Church. Thus the way was 
being paved for even greater and more extended 
work in the future ; but of all this we shall write later. 

I ought probably to note one incident of this pas- 
torate, which required a good deal of moral courage 
on my part. Our house of worship here was located 
quite conveniently to the town, and it had possibly 
for this reason become a custom to use it on all occa- 
sions for lectures and public meetings of various kinds, 
and this was kept up notwithstanding there were other 
rooms convenient for such purposes — the courthouse, 
the opera house, and White's Hall. Still our church 
was used because it was free. I could never approve 
of this at any time, as I always felt that a house dedi- 
cated to the worship of God ought to be kept exclu- 



160 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

sively for this purpose, and any other use made of it 
would be a desecration. The time of which I shall 
now write seemed especially so. We were engaged 
in a revival meeting, with three services a day — morn- 
ing, afternoon, and night — and the interest was very 
good indeed. People were being added to the Church 
daily. Some one who evidently did not feel very 
much interest in our cause, without consulting any 
of the official members of the Church or the pastor, 
announced a lecture to occupy one of our hours for 
public worship — and that, too, by an unknown person, 
who was reported to be going through the country 
lecturing to the colored people on the subject of pro- 
hibition, but who had been invited to deliver his lec- 
ture to the white people of West Point. It could 
never be ascertained just who had extended this in- 
vitation. When the train which was to have brought 
the speaker came, it was found that he had not 
come, which pleased some of us, as we did not wish 
to be troubled in any way just at that particular time. 
But the next day, to our astonishment, a prominent 
speaker was announced for the same hour a day ahead 
and again for our church, and all the time it was 
known generally that our meeting was in session, with 
a good degree of interest manifested on the part of 
the unsaved. To render the matter more embarrassing, 
this time the speaker represented one of the leading 
denominations and was of State reputation. He would 
have been accorded a hearty welcome by all if the 
meeting had not been on with such a large interest 
manifested. But notwithstanding this, and the addi- 
tional fact that none of our own members seemed to 
know where this arrangement originated, still, to 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 161 

avoid the appearance of opposing a good cause, I an- 
nounced the lecture, as requested, and gave up my 
service for the hour. The speaker made a good talk, 
but told a goodly number of amusing anecdotes, which 
of course would detract from the interest of the meet- 
ing ; and, to the astonishment of at least one member 
of his audience, when the lecture was over, having con- 
ferred with one or two persons who were not members 
of our Church, the speaker beckoned to me and asked 
me to announce that he would lecture again the fol- 
lowing day at the same hour. It was the last straw 
that broke the camel's back. I went forward and 
stated to the audience that I had been requested to 
announce that the brother would address the people 
again the next day at the hour named, and I would so 
announce as requested, but I hoped this would be the 
last time we would ever be asked to announce any- 
thing in our church except religious services, and that 
no such request need be made during my pastorate 
here. It took a good deal of courage for me to do 
this, since there had already been an effort made to 
make it appear that I was not in sympathy with the 
prohibition movement, which was altogether false ; and 
besides this, there had never been any effort made to 
protect our house of worship against everything that 
came along; hence I could not know how my action 
would be taken even by my own Church. But I had 
decided to do this if they ran me out of town. Two 
or three weak-kneed fellows did take a scare at this 
and imagined we would be ruined ; but our leaders com- 
mended my course perfectly, and said this ought to have 
been done long before. We did not have the lecture 
the following afternoon, and, so far as I am informed, 
II 



162 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

our people have never been asked to open our church 
doors here for anything of the kind since, and our con- 
gregation has always prospered, this being now one of 
the best stations in the North Mississippi Conference. 
We would better emulate the example of our sainted 
Bishop Marvin, who would raise his hat when passing 
a country chapel, than convert our houses of worship 
into public halls, to be used for everything. 

Let it be understood, however, that there would have 
been no objection offered to the address on prohibition 
by the last speaker mentioned, if our revival meeting 
had not been in session, as we consider the temperance 
cause as part of the Church's work. It was the disre- 
gard for our meeting that was most trying. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Sickness. 

Everything was still progressing well with us at 
West Point. The Fourth Quarterly Conference was 
held three months before the session of the Annual 
Conference, which, as will be remembered, was to be 
held in this charge, and arrangements must be made 
for its entertainment. Some improvements must be 
made on our house of worship, or we felt so at least ; 
hence we set about this work. Two hundred dollars 
was secured for this purpose, and the work was being 
done. About this time, however, death claimed our 
little Scottie, now ten months old, of whom mention 
has been made in a former chapter. We were in afflic- 
tion ; but 

"Hope looks beyond the bounds of time 
When what we now deplore 
Shall rise in full immortal prime 
And bloom to fade no more." 

At the time of the death of this child I was hardly 
able to be up myself, and this heavy, depressed feeling 
continued to increase until I found myself in the grasp 
of typhoid fever, which held me for many days at what 
seemed to be death's door. My physicians had de- 
spaired of my recovery and had already informed me 
of my extremely critical condition. I thought I would 
probably soon be in heaven ; in fact, I had reached the 
point when I reallv wanted to go. I was so tired, and 

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164 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

felt that heaven would be to me a place of rest. With 
this feeling I sent for the Treasurer of our Board of 
Stewards, B. F. McCrary, and placed all my business 
in his hands. After giving him time to look over mat- 
ters, I asked him if everything would be straight ; and 
being assured by him that it would and that there 
would be something left for my family in case I should 
die, I told him good-by and turned my face to the 
wall, feeling that I would be in heaven the next day. 
But just at this point the following verse of a song 
came to me and seemed to ring through my entire 
being : 

"I would at once have quit the field, 

Where foes with fury roam; 
But ah ! my passport was not sealed, 

I could not yet go home." 

I can never forget the impression this made upon 
my mind. I began to ask myself the question as to 
what this could mean, when the impression came to me 
that my work was not yet done, but that the afflictions 
then upon me, though they might be severe and would 
be protracted, would only serve to open a doorway 
into a more enlarged field of usefulness. But has this 
been fulfilled? We will let future events testify in 
answer to this question. My troubles lasted long. I 
was not able to do any more work in the ministry dur- 
ing the whole fall and winter. Soon after the above 
impressions came to me and I had assured my at- 
tendant physicians, Drs. Scott and Unger, that I 
would not die, the disease strangely affected my left 
leg, which swelled up almost equal to my body, and 
Dr. Unger was candid enough to tell me that this 
might involve my heart at any moment and kill me; 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 165 

that if it were not for my courage he would say there 
were ninety-nine chances against me where there was 
one for me, and that even if I should recover they 
would probably have to perform an operation, which 
would make a cripple of me for life. To this I re- 
plied : "Doctor, you may have to make a cripple of me ; 
the Lord may want a cripple to do his work; but I'll 
not die. The Lord has a use for me here yet." The 
doctor then said he was glad to hear me say that, as 
the mind had a good deal to do with things of this 
sort. But I was resting on what I believed then and 
believe yet to be God's promises. The doctor painted 
with iodine the parts where this trouble seemed to be 
located, and the swelling began to scatter and spread 
over the other parts of the body until I was swollen 
all over as one having dropsy. I couldn't wear any 
kind of shoes, except large slippers with vamps turned 
down, and was compelled to keep my lower limbs 
bandaged from my hips down, under instructions of 
the physicians, for five months or more. My best 
friends seemed yet to have but little hope of my final 
recovery, and thought I was simply under a delusion. 
Still they were very kind to me. When the Confer- 
ence came I was only able to move around cautiously 
in these No. 10 slippers to help entertain it. After 
Conference, being left without a pastoral charge, I 
moved to Hernando, Miss., for residence. I had no 
relatives or friends or even acquaintances at Her- 
nando, and the move was a long one in our Confer- 
ence territory, from West Point to Hernando. I had 
been under an abiding impression during all this sick- 
ness, after I felt that I would get well, that I should 
go to Hernando to live. So by the time the ap- 



166 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

pointed pastors had reached their respective charges 
I had gone to Hernando. My friends wondered why 
I had not gone to relatives to be cared for until I could 
recover. The truth was, I didn't have any relatives 
who were able to do this without taxing themselves, as 
I had my wife and three children to care for and 
no means of support., now that we were left without 
a charge. I fully believed, however, that God would 
give me plenty of work to do and a support for it when 
he was ready for me to enter the field ; and then he had 
prepared some good people here at Hernando to give 
me all the help necessary, and that too without the 
asking on my part. Bishop Duncan, who had pre- 
sided at our Conference, had given expression to a 
thought which had greatly strengthened me. He said : 
"When the Lord's soldiers who have often been in the 
thickest of the fight are left on the field wounded and 
bleeding, they are not left to die without attention. 
The Lord has a hospital for his wounded ones, where 
they can be taken and cared for until able to serve 
again or care for themselves." It seemed that the 
Lord had caused him to speak these words for my 
special benefit or comfort; and then I was reminded 
of how God had cared for his prophet at ancient Sarep- 
ta, causing a widow to sustain him there, and God does 
not change his ways. When we reached Hernando 
our goods had not arrived ; but Sister Meriwether, one 
of God's "elect" ladies, took us into her home and 
entertained us until the goods could reach us ; and when 
this was done and we went to our rented home, we 
found a table heaped up with groceries and everything 
needful for living. There was enough to last us at 
least a month, and before this supply was exhausted 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 167 

more was brought. Thus things went on until I was 
again able to go out and work a little. There was 
another good woman here who seemed to have 
felt it her special mission to look after these things. 
This was Mrs. Mosby, another widow, and never did 
she cease this work until I was out holding meetings, 
and thus bringing in supplies from other sources. I 
had rented a small house at seven dollars a month 
without the means in sight to pay the rent, although 
this fact had never been mentioned to a living being. 
But before the time was up for paying this rent I 
was in Dr. T. C. Weir's home at Sardis, whither I had 
gone on a visit to my old friend. This was the first 
time I had been from home in nearly five months, and 
Dr. Weir said: "Brother Kilgore, I have a small 
amount of the Lord's money which has not been 
directed, and I will take the liberty to turn it over to 
you, feeling that he would have it thus applied." He 
handed me ten dollars. I was in this way prepared 
to meet my first month's rent. Before another month 
was out I had become able to conduct a series of 
prayer services at Batesville for Rev. J. E. Thomas, 
who put into my hands enough to pay the next 
month's rent, and in less than another month I was 
able to begin to work and get good returns for my 
labors. 

When my mind reverts to these things I am filled 
with gratitude to God for his great mercies and to 
these good people for the part they were directed to 
take in this whole matter ; and then I am made to won- 
der why we ever doubt God's providence, when he has 
thus so often shown himself so abundantly able and 
ever willing to supply our every need. Ofttimes since 



1 68 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

he has helped me when the way seemed as dark as 
recorded above, of which I will write in future chap- 
ters. In the above instance of sickness the Lord had 
given me the following promise, which I held on to 
through all : "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten 
thousand at thy right hand ; but it shall not come nigh 
thee." 

I have made a record of these things in detail that 
I may in this way give glory to God, who has, in his 
own way and at his own chosen time, so wondrousiy 
cared for me and mine — and that, too, when no other 
help seemed nigh. But we remember that he has said : 
"Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him ; 
and he shall bring it to pass." We have found him 
faithful to his word. 



CHAPTER XL. 

At Work Again. 

While it was yet difficult for me to walk, owing 
to my defective leg where the fever seemed to have 
settled, I began to work in meetings. My first work 
was in the home Church at Hernando, where with the 
pastor, Rev. John W. Bell, I continued two weeks, 
and witnessed a good work. I appreciated the priv- 
ilege of doing what I could for the dear, good people 
who had been so kind to me. Rev. K. A. Jones was 
with us and preached several strong sermons in this 
meeting, and we enjoyed his society in our home very 
much. We were also honored here with a visit to our 
home by that stalwart Christian and statesman, Judge 
A. T. Roane, of Grenada, who gave as much of his 
influence as he could to our work. Rev. H. T. Gaines 
was also in the meeting, and rendered us valuable 
service. Brother Gaines is a noble fellow, and I must 
here acknowledge my heartfelt gratitude to him for his 
great kindness to me during my long-continued illness. 
I found in him a friend indeed. And as to dear Broth- 
er Bell, our pastor, I can never find language to ex- 
press my gratitude to him for the faithful way in 
which he ministered to me and my loved ones while 
in his charge. He is truly one of God's noblemen. I 
have been associated with him often since, and found 
him ever the same. Revs. G. W. Bachman and S. M. 
Thames were also among our special friends in the 

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170 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ministry during these seasons of sorrow, and their 
names have ever been as household words in our 
home. The Lord will reward them for words of 
sympathy and deeds of love. If time and space would 
allow, I could write of many others who helped us on 
the way. When the meeting was over at Hernando, 
we went to Cold Water, Brother Bell's other appoint- 
ment, for a similar work, and the Lord gave us a meas- 
ure of success. A goodly number were added to the 
Church, mostly among the young people. From here 
I went to Carrollton in response to an invitation from 
Rev. T. W. Lewis. This was my second visit to Car- 
rollton in the Lord's work ; and although the Lord had 
given us a great victory before, it remained for us to 
witness even a greater work now. I found Brother 
Lewis a very pleasant companion in the work, and 
when I noted his painstaking and systematic way of 
doing everything, I predicted for him a bright future, 
and in this I have not been disappointed. Here we 
also heard six strong sermons by Rev. R. A. Bur- 
rows, who was quite young in the ministry then, 
but has since served as one of the most efficient 
presiding elders in his Conference. He is now in 
West Texas. The names of many might be mentioned 
here who were helpful in the work at Carrollton in 
scoring these great victories for the Lord ; but I note 
with especial pleasure the Bingham family, who have 
always stood like a stone wall for Christ and his 
cause in this town and section of country. Their many 
good deeds will doubtless come up as a memorial be- 
fore the Lord in their favor at the revelation of all 
things. 

The meeting over here, I went home to my loved 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. iyi 

family for a few days, and then was off for 
Coffeeville to assist Rev. T. G. Freeman in a meet- 
ing. This was my first association with Brother 
Freeman, but I found him an easy man to work with, 
which cannot be said of every one who invites an as- 
sisting minister into his charge. While Brother Free- 
man keeps an eye on the work at every turn, still he 
makes a man feel free in his charge and is ready to 
rejoice in every good work. Seventy-three conversions 
were reported in this meeting. Written requests for 
prayer were handed in during the meeting until sev- 
enty-eight persons had been thus represented ; and when 
the work was ended only four of those were left out. 
Later on I had the privilege of witnessing the con- 
version of two of these, and I hope in answer to the 
many prayers offered the remaining two have been 
saved ere this. One case here is noteworthy. Early 
in the history of this meeting I felt specially drawn to 
a broad-faced, open-countenanced gentleman in the 
congregation who seemed to be very attentive to the 
word. On inquiry I learned this gentleman's name 
and that he was at the time clerk of the circuit court, 
and respected by all who knew him, but not a Chris- 
tian. My interest in the man continued to grow 
on me, although a stranger, until I was invited into 
his home. His wife was a Christian and a Methodist ; 
hence their home was open to me at any time. While 
in his home I told him of the interest I had felt in 
him, and afterwards took my Bible and went to the 
courthouse and engaged in protracted conversations 
with him and read to him some of God's promises 
to penitents, as he had by this time expressed an in- 
terest in his own soul by coming forward for prayer. 



172 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

The meeting went on until, as above indicated, many 
had been saved, but still my friend was left out. 
The closing service came, and w T ith a feeling I can 
never describe I went to him in the congregation and 
pleaded with him as a friend would plead with a 
friend to surrender all to Christ then and there and 
come forward and go with us. He seemed to hesi- 
tate for a time, but finally shook his head and said 
he could not go. I turned from him and went back 
down the aisle weeping like a child, and the people 
wept. Why should I have felt so much interest in 
him, a stranger? I returned home, and then went 
to other places ; made one visit to Texas, where the 
Lord was with us. I was gone three months or more. 
Then I had an engagement in East Mississippi, where 
my family would accompany me. We were on the way ; 
our route was planned via Grenada and Durant to 
West Point, but we had purchased tickets only to 
Grenada. I don't remember why. I had been in a 
spirit of prayer all day. There seemed to be a burden 
on me I couldn't understand, but this was probably 
made plainer later on. Before we had reached Gren- 
ada I said to my wife: "Let's go up to Coffeeville 
and spend the Sabbath with friends." She agreed ; 
and instead of making close connection at Gren- 
ada for the south, we remained there several 
hours and went north to Coffeeville, reaching there 
at eleven o'clock at night. It was Saturday night. 
When I stepped off on the platform, a little Hebrew 
friend of mine put his hand on my shoulder, saying, 
"Is this Mr. Kilgore?" and added that they had just 
sent a telegram for me. My brothers lived a few 
miles out from this place, and I thought possibly the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 173 

message was from them; but was soon informed that 
my friend, Mr. John Holly, had been shot down acci- 
dentally in an attempt to arrest a desperado. The 
criminal was aiming his shot at another officer, but hit 
Holly. Holly was the circuit court clerk in whom I 
had felt and manifested so much interest during the 
meeting held there. It was thought that he would 
soon die ; and, as he had expressed a desire to see me, 
the telegram had been sent, as mentioned above. How 
did I come to be on the platform at Coffeeville just 
when needed? My home was nearly a hundred miles 
from there, and I would have been a hundred miles in 
another direction next morning had my course not been 
changed. I have always believed the hand of the Lord 
was in this in answer to the prayers that had been 
offered in this man's behalf. I took my family to 
the hotel, and was soon at his bedside, where prayer 
was offered a number of times for his recovery, if it 
were God's will, but more particularly for his salvation. 
He finally expressed some hope, and I spoke to Mrs. 
John Collins, a devout Christian of that place, asking 
her to join me in secret prayer that Mr. Holly might 
be spared at least long enough to leave satisfactory 
evidence to his family and friends that he was saved, 
and I reminded Sister Collins of the Lord's promise 
that where two were agreed in asking anything in his 
name it would be granted. While Mr. Holly seemed 
almost dead at this time, still he did revive and made 
a bright profession of religion, expressed regret that 
he had not joined the Church during the meeting when 
he was in good health, and declared that if he lived 
to be able to attend services again he would unite with 
the Church. Although he did live to be able to walk 



174 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

about in his own home again and talk beautifully of 
his hope of heaven, one day before he had gained 
strength enough to get out he was suddenly taken to 
his final home. But our prayers had been answered, 
and we are comforted in the hope of meeting him 
again. 

Another incident of a very different character oc- 
curred in connection with the Coffeeville meeting. We 
were engaged in a social meeting in the church one 
morning, a meeting of prayer and praise and testi- 
mony, when three young ladies were seated together 
on the second seat from the front. They were all 
active workers, but were members of different Church- 
es — Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist. It was al- 
ready known that the Baptist girl would respond to 
any call to work for Christ anywhere or in any way, but 
the other two, while active in their respective Churches, 
had never been called on in public for testimony or 
prayer. But this time I stated that we were going to 
engage in prayer and we would have three prayers of- 
fered before resuming our seats, led by these three 
young ladies, calling their names and placing the Baptist 
girl in the lead. They all responded favorably and made 
very good prayers, but after the congregation had been 
dismissed the Presbyterian girl stepped forward and 
said to me that she didn't know what her pastor would 
have to say about this. I thought then that I knew Dr. 
Thomas, her pastor, better than she did. She hadn't 
gotten out of the house when he met her in the aisle 
and said: "Clara, you are worth ten times as much 
to-day as you have ever been before." As I started 
away from the church on my way to my boarding 
place, the Methodist young lady said to me: "May I 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 175 

walk with you a piece?" I replied: "Certainly." We 
had gone but a few steps before she said that she didn't 
know how a certain young friend of hers would take 
this, referring to a young lawyer, who had occupied 
a seat in the back of the church that day and witnessed 
all that had been done. This young lawyer was a 
Methodist himself, however; and while he had prob- 
ably not been living as he ought all the way, he was 
revived in this meeting and was one of the number at 
the depot when I started to leave to personally ex- 
press his appreciation of the work done and to extend 
to me a hearty invitation to visit their town again 
when I could make it convenient. Soon after this he 
and the young lady referred to were made one, and 
so we see there is never danger in the line of duty. 

From Coffee ville, after a few days spent at home 
again, I went to Clarksdale to assist Rev. A. P. Sage. 
I found Brother Sage as pleasant a man as I had 
ever met in the work, and would have probably scored 
another victory for Christ here, but new physical trou- 
bles developed on me, which threatened my future use- 
fulness for a time, and Brother Sage advised me to 
visit Eureka Springs, Ark., for my health. I did not 
do this, but went to Texas to spend a while. 



CHAPTER XLL 

First Visit to the West. 

Soon after our removal to Hernando, Miss., we 
had a visit from Mr. John Mackie, a young man from 
Jonesboro, Ark., who brought me a paper containing 
a list of the appointments of the White River Con- 
ference ; and after spending a little time with us he 
gave me a cordial invitation to visit his town at some 
future time. I assured him I would be very glad to 
do so, as I had never up to this time crossed the 
Mississippi River. After this, time had passed and suc- 
ceeding events had come and gone, until Brother Sage 
recommended that I make a visit to Eureka Springs 
for my health, but instead I had planned a trip to 
Texas to spend a little time with relatives there. When 
I started I could purchase a ticket only as far as Mem- 
phis, intending to secure a ticket there over the Little 
Rock and Memphis Railroad ; but when I reached the 
city the ticket agent, who seemed very kind, insisted 
that he could sell me a ticket over the Kansas City, 
Memphis, and Birmingham Railroad to Jonesboro, 
Ark., and thence over the Cotton Belt to my 
destination in Texas. He offered to attend to 
some private matters in the city for me in order 
that I might get off on the train then ready to 
pull out over the route suggested, and told me the 
agent at Hernando had wired him of my coming and 
asked him to extend any favors he could to me and 

(i 7 6) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 177 

he would appreciate the act as a personal favor. I 
knew nothing of all this until he told me, but ap- 
preciated this consideration, nevertheless, and pur- 
chased the ticket over the route indicated. When I 
boarded the train and stepped into the dressing apart- 
ment to change my coat for a lighter one, as it was 
quite warm, a gentleman reclining on a sort of lounge 
in there asked me if I was not a minister. I told him 
I was. He then asked: "What kind?" I answered: 
"A Methodist." He inquired further as to where I 
was going. I replied : "To Texas." He said : "You'll 
change at Hoxie then." I told him: "No, at Jones- 
boro." He then stated that he was a Methodist 
preacher, presiding elder of the Jonesboro District, 
and that he lived at Jonesboro ; that I would have three 
or four hours there and must dine with him. This 
I declined, stating to him that I was in bad health and 
it would probably be better for me to stop at the 
hotel. To this he replied that they did not allow 
preachers to go to hotels in Jonesboro when they knew 
of their presence, and insisted that I should go with 
him, which I finally consented to do, and was treated 
very kindly indeed. Now I have related all these 
things to show farther on how a chain of circum- 
stances can lead up to other things of greater import. 
There were wonderful events to be developed in the 
future as the result of this chapter of apparent acci- 
dents. When we had reached the home of this pre- 
siding elder (it was Rev. S. L. Cochran), he sent his 
little boy out after our pastor at Jonesboro, Rev. M. 
M. Smith, who came and spent awhile with us; and 
as there was a meeting in progress there in our church, 
he invited me to remain and assist them in the work. 
12 



178 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

But as I had bought a through ticket to Texas, I could 
not accept his invitation, although I would have 
been glad to do so. It was not the Lord's time. 
They were looking for Rev. H. M. Grenade to come 
to their assistance, but were in doubt as to his coming. 
So on the way to the train, as I was leaving, Brother 
Smith asked me if I could not come at some future 
time and conduct a meeting for them in case Brother 
Grenade should fail to reach them at that time, to 
which I replied that I would be very glad to do so, if 
after praying over the matter he thought I would be 
the man to do this. I was a little surprised at all this 
consideration and extended courtesy, as I was alto- 
gether a stranger to these brethren, but this was 
"God's way." I went on to Texas and spent six 
weeks with friends and relatives, holding two very 
successful meetings while there. One was at my sis- 
ter's Church. I had not seen her in eighteen years — in- 
deed, since I was a little boy. The other meeting was 
at Grapevine, with my old friend and spiritual father, 
Rev. Ben H. Bounds. This last was truly a great 
meeting, as men and women, boys and girls of every 
age and station were among the converts; and added 
to this was the great pleasure of being again asso- 
ciated with my dear friend of other days and his noble 
family. I also witnessed in this home an incident 
which served as an illustration of the way in which 
love sweetens labor. We had been in the meeting 
three weeks, and every one seemed worn out com- 
pletely when the service was over; the people would 
return to their homes and drop down almost anywhere 
and any way. We would have to close the meeting. 
About this time there came into the home in which 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 179 

I was stopping a note announcing the coming of cer- 
tain friends from a distance. There were some young 
ladies in the home, and this had a meaning in it for 
them. This note seemed to put new life into them, 
and they moved around as though tjr.zy were on 
springs. i\s a result, I shared one of the best dinners 
next day I had seen anywhere — prepared, too, by the 
hands of those girls — and I could not but be reminded 
as to how the Church would flourish if people re- 
garded Christ with the same feeling of affection mani- 
fested on the part of those young ladies for their 
special friends. 

The meeting closed at Grapevine, and I set off at 
once for my return trip to Mississippi. As I was not 
sure whether it would ever be my privilege to visit 
the West again, I made the return trip by way of St. 
Louis, thus passing through the Indian Territory, the 
corner of Kansas, the State of Missouri, and then 
down on the east side of the Mississippi River through 
the southern corner of Illinois, Kentucky, and West 
Tennessee to Memphis. T was already impressed with 
the greatness of the West after this trip, and yet I 
had only touched the West proper in all this round, 
as I learned later. I didn't know when I was making 
this extended trip that it would finally be my lot to 
work in all this territory and far beyond, but God 
had so ordered it. 

Having reached home safely and spent a week or 
ten days with the loved ones, I filled an engagement 
with Rev. J. E. Thomas at Wesley Chapel, near 
Batesville, where we had a very gracious revival. 
Among others who joined the Church I recall the 
name of Wilev Whitten, who was said to have been 



i8o Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

2l seeker from time to time for several years, but who 
reached a final decision in this meeting, and who has 
since served in prominent places in the Church. I 
think the coming in of his ten-year-old daughter had 
much to do with bringing him to a final decision. After 
this meeting was Over, accompanied by my family, I 
went to Atlanta, Miss., and assisted Rev. W. C. Les- 
ter in meetings at Atlanta and Slate Springs ; and at 
both places God gave us gracious outpourings of his 
Holy Spirit. One incident at Slate Springs deserves 
special mention. It was on Monday morning. Peni- 
tents were called and two came. They were Pro- 
fessor Connor (one of my former preceptors) and 
Mr. Boland, my lifelong friend. When we called the 
congregation to prayer, I did a thing I have never 
done on any other occasion before or since. I stated 
that the penitents would lead in prayer, Professor 
Connor praying first and Mr. Boland following; 
and so they did, but before the prayer was over 
they had both been happily converted. Mr. Boland 
gave his name for membership in our Church that day, 
while Professor Connor afterwards united with the 
Baptist Church with his wife. I had been invited 
to Mr. Boland's home for dinner that day, but didn't 
know that he would already be saved; thought I 
could probably have some influence in this direction 
by going. T reached his house a little in advance 
of him and was on the veranda when he rode up, 
threw his bridle over the gatepost, came in, and re- 
ported to his family what had taken place. We then 
had a good meeting at home. When dinner was over 
several persons came in, and still others came. I didn't 
understand what had brought them, but a little later 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 181 

Brother Boland invited us into their parlor, where 
everything had been arranged for a special service. 
He took his stand in the midst and stated that he 
had that day given his. own heart to God, that he 
had committed his loved ones to him for safe-keeping, 
and now he wanted his new home dedicated to God. 
He said that from then on all he had was at God's 
command, to be used as he might choose. I was not 
astonished three years later, when I made a second 
visit to that community, to find great improvements 
made on their house of worship, fo*r I knew this 
Church had in it the type of consecration indicated 
above. There were others here of similar spirit. 
Among those was our dear Brother Cardwell, who 
has so recently been called home. Then came the Zinns, 
the Gastens, the Palmers, and others. At the At- 
lanta meeting I also witnessed a good ingathering. 
Among these was my own son — the eldest — who was 
then only eight years old, but who stood side by side 
with Dr. Abernathy to take the Church vows. Dr. 
Abernathy was a tall, handsome gentleman and quite 
intellectual, while my boy was yet only an innocent 
child. Brother Lester rejoiced greatly in these vic- 
tories in his charge. It might properly be said of 
Brother Lester as of one of old : "He was a good man, 
and full of the Holy Ghost, and much people were 
added to the Church." 



CHAPTER XLII. 

Jonesboro Revival. 

After returning from Texas and engaging in three 
or four meetings in my own State (Mississippi), I 
ran up to our home at Hernando to see how things 
were going there, and found two letters in our home 
office for me. They were from Brother Smith, the 
pastor at Jonesboro, Ark., inviting me to conduct a 
meeting for him at a given time. Brother Smith had 
never known me until our incidental meeting at the 
home of Rev. S. L. Cochran, in his town, a few weeks 
before ; but he told me afterwards that he had written 
Bishop Galloway after meeting me as to whether it 
would be safe to have me conduct a meeting in his 
charge. In the absence of the Bishop, Sister Galloway 
had answered his letter favorably, and hence he had 
written me the invitation. The time suited, and I be- 
gan to arrange my plans to go, and so wrote him. In 
the interim, however, I was in a meeting with Rev. 
J. S. Oakley at Water Valley, where the Lord gave 
us a good work, although we had to work against out- 
side attractions which we could not control. Brother 
Oakley expressed himself, however, as highly pleased 
with the work accomplished. By this time the date 
was up for my going to Jonesboro, and I had asked 
the Lord very earnestly to give us a great victory at 
Jonesboro, if it was his will for me to continue in this 
line of work. Up to this time I had tried to follow 

(182) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 183 

his leadings perfectly, and wanted still to do so, and 
therefore made this a sort of test meeting, as the An- 
nual Conference was near at hand, when some de- 
cided action would have to be taken in my case. I 
reached Jonesboro on Wednesday morning in time to 
occupy the pulpit at the morning hour. The meeting 
had been in progress since the preceding Sunday. In 
the very first service the Lord poured out his Spirit 
on the people in great power, and shouts of praise 
went up to God from a number of glad hearts. It was 
an unusual demonstration, and this too without any 
special effort on our part to create such a stir. 
It was the power of the Lord. These evidences of 
the divine presence and power continued in every suc- 
ceeding service, which brought the people in great 
throngs ; and the whole town and county round about 
was brought under the influence of the work. Many 
of the leaders in business and social circles were 
brought in, and the work swept on with constantly 
increasing interest to yet greater victory until one hun- 
dred and sixty-five had made public profession of 
faith in Christ, and eighty-six of this number had been 
added to our Methodist Church, while nearly all the 
remaining ones had united with other denominations. 
Some incidents connected with this meeting may be 
interesting to the reader. On Saturday, at the close 
of the first week of the meeting, we had enjoyed a 
great blessing from the Lord, and I felt inspired to 
announce that we would have a great service again 
that night, and insisted on the people coming. But 
while we were at the supper table, when the sun was 
yet fully a half hour high, we were astonished by the 
sound of very heavy thunder near by. Indeed, it 



184 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

seemed to be almost over the house! I arose from 
the table and walked out on the veranda and found 
that there was a well-formed cloud, very threatening, 
which seemed to be coming up rapidly. The question 
came to me: "Now where is }^our great service?" I 
went into my room, dropped on my knees, and asked 
God to let the cloud be rifted so that it might pass 
us until we could fight that battle for the Lord. This 
was my exact language, as I could afterwards recall 
it. Having made this prayer, I arose and brushed my 
clothes and hair and made other preparation for the 
approaching service, feeling assured that my prayer 
would be answered. When I walked out again, I 
found that the thing I had prayed for had been ac- 
complished perfectly. But I did not yet know the full 
import of the prayer. We went to the place of wor- 
ship at an early hour, and found quite a good repre- 
sentation of people already there. I beckoned to 
Brother Johnson, a local preacher, and one too in 
whom everybody had the utmost confidence, who 
came across the altar to me. I told him I was going 
to call for a moment or two of secret prayer at the 
beginning of the service, but at the end of the service, 
after the sermon, I was going to ask the Christian 
people who had friends in the congregation for whom 
they were praying to go to them and kneel near them 
in prayer, as an evidence of their interest, and wanted 
him to lead the prayer. Just at this time some broth- 
er announced one song and by mistake started an- 
other, thus creating confusion. To overcome this I 
called to prayer at once, and called for the season of 
silent prayer as mentioned to Brother Johnson; but 
he had seemed to misunderstand the whole arrange- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 185 

ment, and began to pray aloud at once, with a great deal 
of earnestness. Thus we had no silent prayer, and I 
felt that the people who had seen me call Johnson 
to me would think this whole thing was planned for 
effect. I became embarrassed and confused myself, 
and to avoid any further entanglement arose and 
announced my text at once. There were present 
that night several ministers who had not been with 
us before, and I suppose I naturally wanted to 
have a good service on this account. Probably a 
sort of man-pleasing spirit had taken possession of 
me to a certain extent. I soon wore off this embarrass- 
ment to some extent and moved on with a degree of lib- 
erty until just as I was closing, ready to make a prop- 
osition, having decided not to ask the Christians to go 
in the congregation. But before I called for the song 
this same Brother Johnson, quite tall in stature, arose 
from the front seat and walked down the aisle, thus 
attracting the attention of the people just at the time 
I wanted their attention more than at any other time, 
and detracting from the interest of the service. I 
felt sure he would stop where I had instructed him, 
as I wanted him to lead the prayer, but I didn't think 
of his going until after the call had been made for the 
Christians to act. So I called the people to their feet 
at once, so that I might hide Brother Johnson from 
the gaze of the multitude, and then made my proposi- 
tion, but did not call on Brother Johnson to pray. 
As already stated, he was one of the very best of 
men, but had simply misunderstood orders or plans, 
and we were in a tangle. I never had such a fisti- 
cuff fight with the old enemy in my life. He seemed 
to be contending for every inch of the ground, but 



i86 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was in reality in the last throes of death, so far as 
that meeting was concerned, as we scored a great vic- 
tory that night, witnessing a number of very happy 
conversions. After that the work moved on without 
an additional obstruction until the results were ac- 
complished as recorded above. 

Another incident was that of a skeptical young 
wife, who opposed her Christian husband at every 
turn in his efforts to do good ; but he pressed his way 
on through all this, rendering himself very efficient 
in the work. One night he went home after a pro- 
tracted service, in which the power of God had been 
manifest, and found his wife reading the Bible, but 
when he walked in she threw it aside and jumped in 
the bed; but it was soon evident that she was under 
conviction, and it wasn't long before she was herself 
powerfully saved. Her sister, who had left Vandale to 
get away from a revival meeting which was in ses- 
sion there, ran into our meeting just at this time and 
was also converted. She came forward to be intro- 
duced to me, and stated that she had jumped out of the 
frying pan into the fire. Many other things might be 
recorded, but we must desist. This great meeting 
closed, but the work goes on. A young men's prayer 
meeting was organized, and was continued for four 
consecutive years without a break, developing a 
large number of workers, who have already left their 
impress on the world for good, and some of whom 
have gone to their reward in heaven. But as I will 
have occasion hereafter to write more of Jonesboro 
and her people, I close this chapter by saying that 
the people here made me a nice purse, which enabled 
me to meet some obligations and prepare for the ap- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 187 

proaching session of our Conference, which was to be 
held this year at Winona. 

On my return from Arkansas I stopped at Mem- 
phis, attended the reception of President Cleve- 
land and wife at the Gayoso Hotel, and had the 
privilege, with many others, of shaking hands with 
them. It was estimated that at least fifty thousand 
people crowded the streets of Memphis on this occa- 
sion. From here I ran down home. But before going 
to the session of our own Conference, in response to 
an invitation, I ran back into Arkansas and attended 
the session of the Arkansas Annual Conference at 
Fayetteville, where Bishop Galloway presided. My 
plan was to work more in Arkansas during the fol- 
lowing year, if the Lord should so order, as there 
were already other open doors. On the way to Fay- 
etteville I spent the Sabbath at Van Buren, where Rev. 
J. B. Culpeper was conducting a great meeting. I 
was informed afterwards that more than two hundred 
were added to the Church here. I preached, for the 
brethren in this meeting on Sunday at eleven o'clock, 
as Brother Culpeper was pretty well worn out and 
did not wish to preach at this hour. I also preached 
at the Fayetteville Annual Conference, where I spent 
two or three days, witnessing the Conference work and 
hearing sermons from Rev. J. W. Hill and Dr. I. S. 
Hopkins, of Georgia. My return trip from this Con- 
ference, as far as Memphis, was in company with the 
scholarly minister last named. I found in him a very 
genial companion indeed. Soon I was at Winona, 
where the North Mississippi Conference was in session, 
and from which I expected to take a new start; but of 
this Conference and its results I will write later. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

At Black Hawk. 

I had sustained a supernumerary relation to the 
Conference during the past year and while I had been 
able to work only part of the time, I had, under God, 
witnessed between five and six hundred conversions 
and more than three hundred additions to the Meth- 
odist Church, and my mind was fully made up to ask 
the same relation at the hands of the Conference for 
another year. I had expressed my intention of ask- 
ing for this relation to Dr. Cameron, my presiding 
elder at West Point, before I was ever taken sick, 
stating to him that I had felt especially called to work in 
revivals ; and now that I had had one year's experience, 
and God had so abundantly set his seal to the work 
I felt convinced that I should cavil with the question 
no longer, and yet I did not wish to sever my connec- 
tion with the Conference. It was soon very evident, 
however, at the session at Winona, that I could no 
longer sustain this relation and keep at work. They 
said that they needed more men in the regular pastor- 
ate, and hence they could not give me the relation 
longer. Of course this was only private talk, but I 
saw the drift was in this direction ; hence I did not 
ask for the relation. Here I probably made a great mis- 
take; but we are liable to do this while in the flesh, 
as we will never be perfect in judgment here. If this 
decision was wrong and hurtful, it must be classed 
(188) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 189 

with the sins of infirmity. I was appointed from this 
Conference to the Black Hawk Circuit, and was soon 
at my post. The sainted J. F. Evans was my prede- 
cessor here; and as it was not convenient for him to 
move right away, we were taken for a time into the 
home of that loyal and big-hearted Methodist, J. B. 
Streeter, who, with his noble wife, entertained us right 
royally until we could move to the parsonage. The 
weather was bad, and I could do but little work for 
a time; yet to my astonishment and comfort the 
stewards reported three hundred and forty-nine dollars 
on the preacher's salary at the first quarterly meeting — 
and this, too, within a little more than a month after 
Conference. This was not the result specially of any 
impression I had made on the work, but simply the 
fidelity of a faithful set of stewards who always 
looked well to the support of their preachers. If 
there could have been any temptation to hold on to 
the regular pastoral work from a monetary considera- 
tion, I certainly had it here. But all this failed to 
make any such impression. On the other hand, I felt 
all the year, although they were kind to us all through, 
that I was working in harness that did not fit me, 
and resolved and announced publicly before the year 
was half gone that I would not be their pastor another 
year; that I fully intended to take some relation to 
the Church which would allow me to ens:ap*e in the 
line of work I loved, and to which I felt specially 
called. We enjoyed a degree of success, however, on 
the circuit, as the Lord gave us his presence in all the 
services and a goodly number were added to the 
Church during the year. C. W. Perkins and R. A. 
Meek, whose homes were in the bounds of this charge 



190 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

and who had both been impressed that they should 
preach the gospel, but who had been postponing the 
matter, received a new inspiration for the work during 
this year and enlisted at once, and have both since 
become very efficient ministers of the New Testament. 
As in all other years, there were trials to face this year ; 
but in the main the people were so considerate that 
we were strengthened for these other things. Most of 
our associations were very pleasant, and we formed 
some friendships here which have left a sweet flavor 
in our lives we can never dismiss. Here too the Lord 
gave us our third bab}' boy, who is now eighteen years 
of age, and we named him Bingham, for the Bingham 
family of Carrollton. His second name is Hicks, for 
that noble layman, J. W. Hicks, of West Point. He 
is a very promising boy and adds greatly to the com- 
fort of our ripening years. During this year my pre- 
siding elder, Rev. R. P. Mitchell, than whom the 
Lord never made a grander man, expressed a doubt 
to some friends as to my going into regular revival 
work, but after I told him of my convictions he as- 
sured me that I should not confer with flesh and blood, 
but should go at once into the work. He said that if 
he had my convictions and had received them in the 
way I had he certainly would hesitate no longer; that 
he would heed the voice of God rather than men. He 
said, furthermore, that he would ask a supernumerary 
relation for me at Conference, and get it if I so de- 
sired, and this he did. The Conference was at Stark- 
ville. I was given this relation again, and went at once 
into the field. I will give the results of this year's work 
in another chapter. 

While on the Black Hawk work I assisted the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 191 

brethren in meetings at Grenada, Lexington, Abbeville, 
and Tchula — all good meetings. This was especially 
true of the meeting at Tchula. The little town was 
mightily stirred, so that Jews and Gentiles, Protestants 
and Catholics were brought under the influence of the 
good work. I remember one Catholic lady who made 
a bright profession of religion, and when the meeting 
closed she presented to me and to the preacher in 
charge three dollars each. Rev. Joe Howell was in 
charge of this Church. Brother Howell was a noble 
fellow, and has since gone to his reward. In the meet- 
ing at Abbeville, where Rev. R. M. Davis had charge, 
I was invited into a home to dine one day, and while 
seated in the parlor awaiting dinner, in company with 
two young ladies, one of them seemed free to talk 
about religion; said she wanted to be a Christian, but 
the dance was in her way. I talked with her a little 
while as to the evils of the dance, and, seeing that she 
was quite deeply impressed, called them to prayer with 
me. During the prayer she was happily converted, 
and in two weeks after the meeting closed her re- 
deemed soul was called home to God. How fortunate 
that she yielded herself to the "tender embrace" of 
Christ and was thus prepared for this change ! I had 
already witnessed several other instances of this kind 
under my own ministry, and I have often thought that 
J would rather thus be instrumental in the salvation 
of souls than to wear the crowns of the nations. Two 
other incidents of this year might be briefly stated 
here with profit. Our District Conference was held at 
Greenwood. Rev. T. A. S. Adams, D.D., who was 
Chairman of the Examining Committee when I was 
admitted on trial into the Conference, and whom I 



192 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

had learned to love, preached a sermon that helped 
me very much indeed, and I felt, when he concluded, 
that I wanted to go forward and give him my hand 
and tell him so ; but as there was no proposition 
made, I failed to do so. I felt afterwards that I had 
quenched the Spirit, and made a vow that if I ever 
felt thus again under any one's preaching I would 
act differently. Later Dr. Adams sank in his tracks 
at a ticket window and died instantly, but I had failed 
to encourage him when I had an opportunity. At 
Conference, at the close of the same year, a similar 
feeling came to me when Rev. George Inge was clos- 
ing his sermon, and with my vow on me I went for- 
ward and gave him my hand when there was no prop- 
osition, not regarding- criticism, and others quickly fol- 
lowed and still others. Brother Inge got happy and 
rejoiced greatly, and others rejoiced, so that it was 
truly a happy ending. In a few months I picked 
up a paper and noticed that Brother Inge had also 
gone to the good world, and I was glad that I had 
gone forward and shaken hands with him. We will 
rarely ever make a mistake when we follow up such 
impressions as the above, and people never get so 
high in the scale of success in life or fame as not to 
sometimes need encouragement. But I must leave 
any other thought for future chapters. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

Trip to California. 

During the closing weeks of my year at Black 
Hawk I had purchased a home at Cofleeville, Miss., 
in which I got a bargain on easy terms. Soon after 
Conference we moved into this home and were happy. 
As I had made an engagement to hold a meeting at 
Paragould, Ark., during the past year and failed to 
be able to fill the engagement, owing to sickness in 
my home, I thought this a proper time to go and offer 
my services in the beginning of the new year, and was 
soon en route to Paragould, without any arrangement 
for a meeting there at this time. But in this there 
was no mistake. I found Brother Ritter, the pastor, 
ready for such a work, and we began at once. There 
had been a whisky fight at Paragould the day I 
reached there. The town had gone "wet," and the 
whisky men had celebrated their victory by giving a 
public treat ; hence many were intoxicated, and it did 
not look like a very favorable time to embark in a 
meeting, viewing it from one standpoint; but the re- 
sults of the meeting proved to the contrary, as we wit- 
nessed at least seventy-five happy conversions, with a 
half hundred additions to our own Church. It was 
winter time, and the weather was bad; but notwith- 
standing the town was new and without sidewalks, 
still the people came in throngs, through rain, snow, 
and mud, and filled the large house of worship. The 
13 ( J 93) 



194 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

church was crowded at every meeting. A little inci- 
dent here led to the conversion and bringing into the 
Church of a prominent family, which in turn led to the 
above large results. I was in the home of Judge 
Mack, who was already prominent in the Church ; but 
his daughter, Miss Jennie, who was a most attractive 
young lady and withal quite worldly, as I was in- 
formed, was yet out of the fold, and I set about trying 
by personal effort to get her saved, and was soon com- 
forted in seeing her make a bright profession of reli- 
gion in her own parlor at home. She at once united 
with the Church, and went to work to save others, 
and very soon her married brother and his whole fam- 
ily — all old enough — had been brought in, and then 
the others, as already recorded. So much for a little 
personal work. I wish I could record many other strik- 
ing incidents of this great meeting, but these must be 
left out. Of course none of these victories were won 
without a conflict with the old enemy. He will never 
allow God's people to come in and occupy any terri- 
tory he has claimed without such a conflict, but will 
contend for every inch of the ground, and if the 
Church is not constantly wide-awake he will often 
defeat us. So I have found it. 

During the meeting here I received a long letter 
from a presiding elder in California, inviting me to the 
Pacific Coast and into his district to hold some meet- 
ings. This seemed a long way off, but I had already 
had some sort of a premonition that I would be invited 
to California this year. I do not know why I should 
have had such an impression, as I had never sought such 
a call. After considering the matter prayerfully, I ac- 
cepted the invitation and was soon off for the long 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 195 

journey. I secured a six months' round-trip ticket 
over a sort of belt route. My route going was via 
St. Louis, Kansas City, Pueblo, Denver, Salt Lake 
City, Sacramento, and San Francisco, making short 
stops at all the above-named places. Of course I saw 
much that was new and strange to me, as this route 
took me through some of the most sublime and pic- 
turesque scenery of the Rocky Mountains. I could 
write much of this trip and the attractions along the 
way; but travel has become so common now, and so 
many are using their pens in giving descriptions of 
all these things, that I think it hardly necessary to add 
anything here on this line. I found Rev. Sam Jones 
and his singer, E. O. Excell, in a great meeting at 
Sacramento, Cal., and spent three days with them. 
Rev. A. C. Bain was our pastor there at the time ; and 
as Brother Jones did not hold services at his taber- 
nacle at eleven o'clock on Sunday, I was invited to 
preach for Brother Bain, which I did, and was cor- 
dially entertained for the day in his pleasant home. 
Leaving Sacramento, I went down the Sacramento 
River on the steamer to San Francisco. The scenery 
along this river is grand. As our boat struck a sand 
bar and was thereby greatly detained, I was several 
hours late in reaching the last-named city, so re- 
mained on the vessel until morning. When the new 
day had come, having refreshed myself with the morn- 
ing meal, I w T as soon off for the Cliff House on the 
beach, a distance of five or six miles by the cable car, 
to look for the first time on the mighty Pacific Ocean. 
I shall never forget my impressions as I stood alone 
and looked out over the "dark blue sea" and saw the 
mighty waves come rolling in. I strolled up and down 



196 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

on the beach with feelings of awe, as I was made to 
consider God's wonderful works. I had already ex- 
perienced feelings of this kind as our train had brought 
us sweeping along through the Rockies, where we 
passed through canyons that nature seemed to have 
cut and left open for the commerce of the world. 

A day or two in San Francisco and Oakland, and 
I was off again through the Santa Clara Valley 
and over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Los Angeles 
and other points in Southern California. When I 
had finally reached the home of Rev. D. C. Brown, 
the presiding elder, who had invited me thither, I 
found that he was not ready for his meetings, al- 
though he had urged me in his letter to come at 
once. I do not think he intended to mislead at all, but 
simply thought it would be necessary to be urgent to 
get me prepared to make so long a trip. He was very 
kind, however, and opened a meeting for me in his 
home town, Carpinteria, with Rev. A. T. Dunlap, 
pastor. I became very much drawn to Brother Dun- 
lap and his faithful little wife. They were South 
Carolinians. I have met Brother Dunlap in South 
Carolina since, and he extended kind favors to me 
there that I appreciated very much. Brother Brown 
was also kind to me while at Carpinteria, and my 
impression while there was that he had a wife who 
was fully worthy of the position she occupied as a 
minister's wife. The only visible result of our work 
at Carpinteria was that of five little girls being added 
to the Church. The prospects were very good at the 
last, but Mr. Moody was expected at Santa Barbara 
just at that time and attracted a good deal of atten- 
tion. We suspended in favor of his coming. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 197 

I made a visit to Santa Barbara, where I spent one 
day. The route from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara 
was all the way on the beach and was quite inter- 
esting. From here I went to Santa Ana, a distance 
of one hundred and eighty miles, to hold a meeting 
for Rev. O. A. Oats. We continued three weeks 
at Santa Ana and witnessed a great work. A large 
number were added to the Church. Some things in 
connection with this meeting were worthy of note. 
In an after service Brother Oats was moving among 
the people who had remained with us, talking to them 
about their souls, when he came to a young man who 
posed as an infidel. Brother Oats told him he was quite 
a youth to be taking such a stand as that, and re- 
minded him that the leaders of his school of thought 
had generally been men of corrupt lives who had 
switched off on this line to hide their sins. The 
young man said he took this as a personal insult. 
Brother Oats assured him that he did not mean to 
be personal, but that what he had stated was never- 
theless true. The young man again said he took it as 
an insult and didn't propose to take an insult, upon 
which Brother Oats again told him that he did not 
mean to be personal, but that if nothing else would 
do him but to take this as a personal insult he could 
do so, and in addition to this could take one of the 
worst whippings that one ever carried away from a 
place of worship ; that he would wear the floor out 
with him. The young man began to wither under this 
and started to apologize, when the pastor told him that 
no apology was necessary, that he was his friend and 
would go this length for him to save him, but that 
he couldn't run over his meeting, and that he ex- 



198 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

pected to protect his Church. The young man apol- 
ogized further, became penitent himself, and was re- 
ceived into the Methodist Church with a class of 
others on the following Sunday morning. Brother 
Oats seemed quite sorry that he had felt compelled 
to do what he did that night, however, and when the 
time came for receiving members into the Church at 
the close of this same service, he told Dr. Parker, the 
presiding elder, to baptize the candidates for him, that 
he himself had fallen from grace (referring to his alter- 
cation with the young man). It all turned to good ac- 
count, however, as the young man might never have 
been reached otherwise. 

Another incident was somewhat provoking. Our 
organist and chorister, a young man, had been charged 
with prevarication, involving some money matters. 
His accusers, who were members of another denomi- 
nation, waited until he was at the front in a good 
service to come and arrest him, ostensibly to damage 
our meeting as much as possible. Still we went on, 
and the Lord gave us a great victory, as already in- 
dicated. In the main my stay at Santa Ana, which, 
by the way, is one of the loveliest towns for attractive- 
ness on the Pacific Slope, was quite pleasant. 

I returned to Los Angeles, where a few days were 
spent with old Mississippi friends, and then I was soon 
on my return trip homeward, which was over the 
Southern Pacific Railroad, through Arizona and New 
Mexico via El Paso, Tex. 

Southern California is truly a lovely land, but it 
seems all the time a contradiction, as one is ever in 
full view of the eternal snow, and yet the flowers of 
every hue are blooming at his feet and the fruit ripen- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 199 

ing in reach on every hand. The climate is almost 
perfect, with some of the finest scenery in the world. 

In starting home I had a day off at Colton and 
San Bernardino, and was quite impressed with their 
beauty. At Yuma, Ariz., I saw large numbers of 
"Blanket Indians/' and was not very anxious to see 
them a second time in their uncivilized state. I will 
not attempt to describe them. I took breakfast 
here, and had time to make some purchases from 
them, thus securing some souvenirs of the trip to bring- 
to the children. There is but little to interest one on 
this trip from Yuma to El Paso, Tex. At El Paso, or 
rather across the Rio Grande River from El Paso, in 
old Mexico, I had some hard luck, falling into the 
hands of some highway robbers, who dispossessed me 
of what money I had on my person, or at least most 
of it. I had gone over into the old city on the Mex- 
ican side and met with this experience. I will not stop 
to give details, but would simply suggest that a tourist 
always keep his eyes open. These parties held me 
up and demanded my cash, when I least suspected it, 
and left me almost entirely strapped. 

My next stop was at Terrell, Tex., where three or 
four days were spent very pleasantly with Rev. O. P. 
Thomas and his people, and I preached five sermons 
while arrangements were being made for a meeting at 
Wills Point, Tex., where I joined Rev. W. W. Gra- 
ham in a gracious revival, more than fifty being added 
to his membership. My associations here were of the 
most pleasant character, and this meeting opened the 
way for a still greater victory at Kaufman. This suc- 
cess, however, was not without great effort on the part 
of the Church. It looked for a time as though our 



200 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

efforts would be fruitless at the last-named place, but 
such was not the case, as when the victory did come 
it only seemed the greater. Scores were added to the 
Church, and many of these were of the leaders in 
society and business circles. 

My next meeting was with Rev. S. L. Cochran at 
Clarendon, Ark., where the Lord gave us more 
than a hundred souls for our hire. All the Churches 
of the town took an active part in the work and shared 
richly in the results. This record would not be com- 
plete if I did not go back and relate some things yet 
connected with these meetings. At Kaufman I was 
walking from the morning service at the church to 
my boarding house, when I passed a man doing some 
repair work on the sidewalk. I remarked: "You are 
fixing the walk." He replied: "Yes. I thought I 
would put it in condition so that it will not be dan- 
gerous to travel at night." I told him that was good, 
that the people could have a safer time getting to 
church, and asked him if he had attended any of our 
meetings. He replied frankly that he did not go to 
places of that kind. I told him calmly that we were 
in an excellent meeting at the Methodist church and 
would be glad to have him come. I sat down on the 
edge of the sidewalk in the hot sun and chatted with 
him awhile on various subjects, and on starting to leave 
asked him a second time to come to our meeting. He 
said that he would think about it. I had evidently 
made some impression on him. That night, when Sis- 
ter Carlisle started to church, she chanced to pass 
where this same gentleman was, and asked him to go 
to church with her. He readily consented to do so, 
and that night remained in the after service, as the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 201 

ladies stayed, and soon some Christians were talking 
to him about his soul. He appeared excited for a 
time, but became penitent. He came back to the service 
the following night, and when the service was over 
he sought an interview with the pastor and surren- 
dered his heart to God. He went to Dr. Mulkey's at 
eleven o'clock that night, and woke him up to tell him 
that God for Christ's sake had forgiven his sins. Dr. 
Mulkey had manifested some interest in him, and this 
same man (his name was Jim Ross) became an active 
worker in the meeting, and did much in bringing oth- 
ers in. So much for simply inviting him to church. 

The conversion of Captain Slaughter was another 
notable event in this meeting. Sometime during the 
first week of the meeting Mrs. Slaughter, an Episcopal 
lady, came forward and asked me to pray for her hus- 
band. She said that she didn't know whether it would 
do any good or not ; that she had prayed for him thirty 
years, and he still seemed untouched. She was sim- 
ply discouraged. On the following Saturday morning, 
in the service held for the children, their little daugh- 
ter, Fannie, was converted and asked me, while she 
was yet rejoicing in her new experience, to help her 
pray for her papa. That night, while I was moving 
among the people who had remained for the after 
service, I came to a gentleman with gray hair and 
beard almost white, and asked him if he was a Chris- 
tian. He said that he was not. I asked him if he felt 
that he wanted to be one. He replied that he didn't 
know. I then asked him his name, and he answered, 
"Slaughter." I asked him if he was Captain Slaughter. 
He said that was the name he went by. I then pressed 
his hand in mine and told him I was praying for him, 



202 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

and passed on to speak to others. On my return to the 
front he beckoned to me and said he wanted to speak 
with me further, but would not have time then, and 
asked me when he could see me at my room. An 
hour was fixed, and when the time was up he was at 
my door, and it didn't take him long to tell me the 
difficulties in his way ; said that he had tried to be an 
infidel, and had denied the existence of a God. He 
acknowledged, however, that whenever he had gotten 
in trouble, or was brought face to face with danger, 
he always felt like praying for protection. He was 
in a storm at sea once when it seemed that their vessel 
would go down, and he lifted his heart and voice to 
God in prayer for deliverance, and somehow felt that 
his prayer would be answered. When the storm was 
over and the sea was calm again, he thought what a 
fool and coward he must be to deny the existence of 
a God when everything was favorable, and as soon as 
there was danger in sight begin to pray to the God 
whose existence he had denied. But this is the way 
they will do. A man may profess infidelity when all 
is sunshine ; but let an old congestive chill get hold of 
him and shake him over hell awhile, and he will pray. 
But this man had some real difficulties. He could not 
understand the immaculate conception of Christ, the 
Son of God. He did not know why it was necessary 
for him to have been born into the world and grow up 
as other children. He thought God might have mani- 
fested himself in some other way without all this. 
The Lord helped me to explain to him, however, that 
it was necessary for our Saviour thus to be made ac- 
quainted with human suffering at every point in order 
to be a perfect Saviour ; that if God had created him 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 203 

a man and stood him up before men without any of 
these experiences incident to life it could have been 
said at once that he knew nothing of our sufferings 
as a race, and he could have properly been rejected ; 
but that now "we have not a high priest that cannot be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in 
all points tempted like as we are." Captain Slaughter, 
although he had been a lawyer for forty years, and 
was occupying very important positions at the time 
in the practice of his profession, had never seemed to 
take hold of this thought before, but was quite ready 
now to acknowledge the reasonableness of the position 
or argument, and soon declared himself convinced, 
and was about to leave my room, as the time was up 
for our morning service, when I told him how little 
Fannie had been converted and how she had asked 
me to help her pray for him. At this the old lawyer 
wept and said: "Yes, God bless the dear child. She 
came home from that service and threw her arms about 
my neck and said : 'Papa, give your heart to God, and 
go to heaven with mamma and me.' " At this I asked 
him what he was going to do about it. He replied: 
"I am going to join the Church and go with my wife 
and sweet daughter to heaven." Thus we had another 
illustration of the truth of God's statement : "A little 
child shall lead them." Captain Slaughter did join the 
Church that day, and six years later, when I visited 
Kaufman again, I found him still an honored member 
and trying to direct his home for God. 

While this work with Captain Slaughter was be- 
ing accomplished, Captain Taylor, President of the 
First National Bank at Kaufman, became interested 
about his soul and came forward and gave his hand 



204 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

for prayer and returned to his seat. He had hardly 
reached his seat when he came a second time and 
took a seat on the front bench with the other penitents 
and beckoned to me. When I reached him he said 
that when he got back to his seat in the congregation 
the feeling came over him that he was right in the 
way of some one else, and that as he didn't wish to be- 
come a stumbling-block to others he had come a second 
time to the altar in the same service. While he was 
relating this to me the city marshal had come from 
the same pew in the congregation and taken his place 
among the penitents and was happily saved that night 
and testified that Taylor's approach to the altar had 
influenced him to come. Captain Taylor was not con- 
verted that night, but came forward the next night, 
which was Saturday, and on the following morning 
(Sunday), at the close of the service, united with the 
Church without having made any public profession. I 
had preached that morning on the character of Job, 
and Taylor was very attentive and seemed greatly in- 
interested. I thought toward the rounding up I 
could see decision in his countenance, and so when 
the opportunity was given for people to join the 
Church he came forward. He was tall and command- 
ing in appearance. There was an evident thrill of re- 
joicing in the hearts of the people, occasioned by this 
rather unexpected move on his part. That afternoon 
Captain Taylor was back at the service and came for- 
ward with others to give his hand to the penitents at 
the altar, and at the night service he extended the 
right hand of fellowship to those who were being 
received into the Church, and seemed as much at home 
in doing these things as if he had been in the Church 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 205 

for quite a while. The next morning (Monday) he 
was at the ten-o'clock service, although he was presi- 
dent of a bank, and again in the afternoon I found 
him on the way to the service and asked him to give 
me something of his experience. I told him he had 
come forward for prayers a time or two, but had made 
no public profession of faith in any way except to 
unite with the Church, and I would like to have some- 
thing more as to his experience. He related the cir- 
cumstances about as I have told them as to his coming 
forward, etc., and added that on Sunday morning 
about the close of the sermon he decided that, as he 
had been a seeker from time to time for about twenty 
years, it was time for him to take some more decided 
stand, and that from then on, "feeling or no feeling," 
"blessing or no blessing," he intended to serve God 
to the very best of his knowledge and ability, whether 
he ever blessed him or not ; and that about the time he 
had gotten this resolution thoroughly fixed in his mind 
Brother Hendrix opened the doors of the Church and 
he felt that the thing for one to do who fully intended 
to live a new life was to associate himself with those 
who were like-minded, and thus get all the help pos- 
sible, and with this he had joined. He concluded by 
saying: "Brother Kilgore, this is the happiest day of 
my life. I am astonished I did not do this twenty 
years ago." Captain Taylor lived a consistent Chris- 
tian life until three years ago, when his redeemed spirit 
went home to glory from Mexico, where he had gone 
for his health. 

These things that have been recorded here, along 
with others, led to the great victory of which mention 
has been made. The Lord chooses his own way to 



206 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

accomplish his own work in answer to prayer and 
in response to the efforts of his people. 

In the meeting at Clarendon, Ark., a little thing hap- 
pened that was both serious and amusing. A girl 
about fourteen years old, and well grown for her age, 
was converted and wanted to join the Church, but her 
mother opposed her in this, claiming that she was too 
young to take a step of this kind. The girl seemed 
very anxious about the matter and asked different 
friends to confer with her mother about it, which they 
did, but all to no avail, and on solicitation I went to 
the mother to try to prevail on her to let her daughter 
join the Church, but found her quite determined in 
her mind not to do this, stating as she did that the 
child was "entirely too young for such a step." That 
very night this same girl came to church with a young 
man six feet tall and who weighed a hundred and 
seventy pounds. "Fellow," you see — and this, too, with 
the consent of the mother — and yet she was too young 
to be a member of the Church. I have often been 
pained and grieved at such folly on the part of parents — 
and all this, too, as directly opposed to the plain teach- 
ings of Christ himself with reference to children be- 
ing brought in early. I would rather lay my right arm 
on a block and have it taken off than to oppose one of 
my children in a step of this kind, as such responsi- 
bility is fearful in the light of God's word. May the 
Lord enable us to act wisely with reference to the 
training of our children on this subject ! 



Note. — There was an incident in connection with 
our meeting at Santa Ana that should have been men- 
tioned in the chapter just closed, but doubtless it will be 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 207 

of interest here. During our time there Mr. Moody 
was conducting a great revival in the city of Los An- 
geles, and at the close of our second week, on Saturday, 
I decided to go up, a distance of thirty miles, and hear 
him, as I could do this without missing a service in 
our own work. On closing our morning service I 
left for the train without any dinner, except a cup of 
coffee, and reached the city just in time for the after- 
noon service. Mr. Moody's subject was "How to 
Study the Bible," and he occupied a full hour, which 
was unusual for him, as I was informed afterwards. 
When he had concluded and had given the people an 
opportunity to shake hands with him, I looked at my 
watch and found it was only ten minutes until time for 
my train to leave, and I had a twenty-minute run on 
the street car to reach the station. So I saw I would 
be left if the train was on time, and there would not be 
another train on that road until Monday. This would 
be disastrous to my work at Santa Ana, and much de- 
pended on this every way. So I lifted my heart to God 
in earnest prayer to hold the train for me, and took 
the first car for the station as though nothing were 
wrong. I was not surprised in the least to find the 
train standing when our car reached the station, and I 
said to the conductor, who was standing on the plat- 
form : "Captain, your train is a little late pulling out." 
He replied : "Yes ; we were ready to start on time, but 
received orders to hold up a little." I told him I was 
probably responsible for this delay. Some might call 
this fanaticism, but I call it faith. I have ever 
since fully believed that the good Lord held 
that train in answer to my prayers. But there was 
in store for me an experience that was anything 



208 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

but pleasant. When our train reached Santa Ana, it 
was too late for supper. In fact, the people where I 
was stopping had already closed up and gone to church. 
So I had to go direct to the pulpit. When it is remem- 
bered that I had had neither dinner nor supper, and no 
opportunity to prepare otherwise for the pulpit, it can 
be easily seen how difficult it would be for me to con- 
duct a service. When Brother Oats, our pastor there, 
informed me that there were present two or three 
M. E. Church (North) preachers (D.D.'s)— and this, 
too, the first time they had been with us — a sort of 
man-pleasing, if not man- fearing, spirit took possession 
of me, and my message was delivered with a feeling 
of embarrassment all through. Among other things, 
I tried to illustrate some point by reference to the 
building of the St. Louis bridge across the Mississippi 
River, and got tangled in this, so as not to make my 
point clear, and altogether the service seemed a com- 
plete failure. I went to my room that night quite de- 
spondent; and when everything was silent, Brother 
Oats remarked humorously: "Kilgore, I can tell you 
what was the trouble to-night." I asked him what it 
was. He replied: "You couldn't build that bridge." 
I then said: "Brother Oats, if you don't hush, I be- 
lieve I will take the first train for home." I had a 
terrible case of the blues — and this, too, so soon after 
God had so signally answered my prayers in the matter 
of holding the train, as I believed. It was after Eli- 
jah's prayers had been answered with reference to the 
fire from heaven and the rain that he became disheart- 
ened and ran away from what he thought was danger 
and cast himself down under a juniper tree and wished 
that he might die. But there was yet a brighter day for 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 209 

the Lord's prophet of old, and much remained to be 
done. Brother Oats, who is really one of the sweetest- 
spirited men I have ever worked with, laughed hearti- 
ly at me, and seemed to enjoy all this to the fullest 
extent; and this was much better. We slept off 
all this trouble that night, and enjoyed one of the 
brightest, best days on the Sabbath following we had 
spent at all. A large class was received into the Church 
and everything seemed to work to our hand from then 
on to the close of our meeting. Indeed, it seemed that 
our victory was the more joyful because of these con- 
flicts. The sun shines more brightly after the storm 
cloud. 

14 



CHAPTER XLV. 
Additional Revivals. 

Our first meeting after reaching home from Califor- 
nia was at Greenwood, Miss., with Rev. G. W. Gordon. 
Brother Gordon was in good favor with his people; 
but the town was new, and made up mostly of a class 
of people who had gone there to make money rather 
than get religion, and there was much worldliness. 
During the meeting a gentleman who was a professed 
infidel, and who has since become conspicuous in the 
political world, celebrated his fifth marriage anniver- 
sary, which was attended with a "ball," and a large 
number of our Church people took part in the dissi- 
pations of the occasion, which as a matter of fact para- 
lyzed our work to a great extent. I did not fail to 
pay my respects to all this on the following Sabbath, 
when I had the people present to hear what I had 
to say, and the sermon did not fail to bear fruit. 

An amusing incident followed. In the afternoon of 
the same Sabbath a leading member of the Church, a 
lawyer, met a cultured lady at the church door when 
they were returning to the afternoon service, and asked 
her if they had any liniment at her home. She replied 
that she thought they did, and asked him if there was 
any trouble. He said, "None, except that I feel con- 
siderably bruised," referring to the effects of the ser- 
mon that morning. The lady laughed, and replied that 
they needed all they had at home. Sometimes it is 

(210) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 211 

necessary to administer bad medicine in bad cases, 
though never pleasant to do so. 

In the main our meeting here resulted well, as there 
were some valuable additions to the Church, and the 
faithful ones had their faith strengthened. It was here 
that my second son united with the Church at six 
years of age. 

From here, after spending a few days with the 
loved ones at home, I went to Western Kentucky, and 
conducted a meeting at the little town of Water Val- 
ley with Rev. H. B. Johnston. The Lord gave us a 
decided victory here. Water Valley is the home of the 
Moss family, who have become famous in the Church. 
as some of its members have filled prominent places 
in the ministry. It was here that I first witnessed the 
extensive growth of tobacco, and some of the people 
gave decided attention to bee-raising and realized 
large profits from this industry, as there was frequent- 
ly a very large yield of honey, the country being spe- 
cially adapted to this, as evidenced by the honey being 
of the very choicest kind. I found Brother Johnston 
very companionable indeed. He has since filled some 
of the leading Churches in his Conference, at Jackson 
and Memphis, Tenn., and Paducah, Ky., and is now 
filling the Paducah District as presiding elder very 
acceptably. 

During the meeting at Water Valley one or two in- 
cidents occurred which might be mentioned here. I 
was taking my usual stroll one morning, and passed 
a company of men working on the railroad (the sec- 
tion boss and his squad) ; and as I had always been 
taught to believe that railroad men were tough, I had 
a sort of dread of them, and simply tipped my hat and 



212 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

passed on. This was repeated two or three mornings 
until Brother Johnston, the pastor, strolled with me 
one morning; and when we came to the working crew 
he stopped and said: "Brother Kilgore, hold up here. 
I want to introduce you to one of the biggest-hearted 
railroad stewards you ever met." Steward in the 
Church ! And here I had been passing around them 
with feelings of fear. See what moral cowards we 
can be, and thus let the devil rob us of many an op- 
portunity for doing good! I have lived long enough 
since that time to learn that some of the finest Chris- 
tian characters in the world are connected with rail- 
road work. 

The other incident was that of a gentleman who at 
the close of a service at night, when an opportunity 
was given for any one to speak who might wish to do 
so, stood and said he didn't suppose it was expected 
that he should speak in a meeting like that, as he was 
only a sinner, but said he had thought he had some 
friends among the Christian people there, but that he 
had been among the seekers three nights in succession 
and not a man or woman had spoken a word to him 
about his soul or even given him his or her hand as a to- 
ken of interest felt in him. He had thus become discour- 
aged and went out of the meeting unsaved. What an 
awful reflection on the Church where people want to 
be saved and have no one to help them ! And how 
awful the responsibility to be met at the judgment day ! 
Let us watch lest we be weighed in the balance and 
found wanting. But while this dear man who might 
have been saved with the proper encouragement was 
left out, many others were brought in, and the meet- 
ing was not a failure by any means. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 213 

The next meeting was at Marianna, Ark., where the 
Lord was with us in great power. More than a half 
hundred were added to our Zion here, and a great 
work was accomplished. The good people of Mari- 
anna expressed their appreciation of my work there 
by contributing in a decent way to the support of those 
I love, which is not the case always, even where much 
good is accomplished. Rev. R. S. Deener was our pas- 
tor here. 

The meeting over at Marianna, I went to Mississip- 
pi, and conducted meetings at Spring Hill Church, on 
the Grenada Circuit, with Rev. H. C. Morehead, and 
at Duck Hill. The meetings were both good ; the one 
at Spring Hill was especially good. A large number 
were added to the Church. 

I then went to a schoolhouse appointment on the 
Tillatoba Circuit to assist Rev. R. C. Morehead, where 
the Lord gave us a very great victory. One hundred 
and thirty-three united with the Methodist Church at 
this place and some joined other Churches. It was 
simply glorious. 

From here I went to the old home Church again, 
on the Pittsboro Circuit, Chapel Hill, preached a week, 
and witnessed some good results. 

Thence I proceeded to Slate Springs, where a very 
gracious work of grace was witnessed. Some promi- 
nent persons were among the converts here. 

From Slate Springs I went to Atlanta and Wesley 
Chapel, on the Houston work, with Rev. Eugene John- 
son, a noble fellow, pastor, where good meetings were 
held — some of the best of the season. 

My next engagement was at Water Valley, Miss., 
where the Lord gave us a measure of success, although 



214 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

there were obstructions in our way at this place which 
prevented a very great victory. 

And. so the year had passed. In all there had been 
more than a thousand converted in our meetings dur- 
ing the year, while eight hundred had united with the 
Methodist Church. Many pleasant incidents as well 
as some unpleasant ones had occurred in connection 
with the work during this year. I should like to 
mention them, but deem it hardly profitable. It was 
during this year that I was entertained in a palatial 
home for two weeks, with its brownstone .front, Brus- 
sels carpets, and upholstered furniture, and every con- 
ceivable contrivance designed to beautify the home. I 
had imagined that in such a home happiness would 
reign supreme ; but to my surprise I learned late in 
the second week of my stay there, and that too from 
the landlord himself, that the husband and wife of this 
splendid home had been living in separate rooms for 
more than two years. Separated, and yet living under 
the same roof! Here I witnessed again that wealth 
does not always bring happiness. "Better is a dinner 
of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred 
therewith." 

I failed to mention some other good meetings held 
in Arkansas during this year, at Brinkley and Cotton 
Plant and a very gracious meeting at Forrest City. 
Among other incidents I now recall of the work at 
Forrest City was that of a little girl who was happily 
converted and wanted to join the Church with many 
others who did join ; but her mother, who seemed quite 
worldly and who had not been reached by the meeting, 
although the work was very great, opposed her little 
daughter in her desire to join. Three years later I 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 21$ 

was there in another meeting when this same girl's 
father, who was the sheriff at the time, together with 
an uncle, who was a leading lawyer, united with the 
Church. This young mother also joined then, along 
with her little son. and she pleaded with this same 
daughter whom she had opposed before to come and 
join with them, but she would not come. Friend after 
friend talked with the girl and tried to persuade her 
to join, but she persistently refused, saying that as she 
could not join when she wanted to she would never 
do so; and notwithstanding the mother wept over her 
former folly, the girl, now a young lady, was left out, 
and seemed entirely rebellious. It is dangerous to 
oppose one in his or her religious convictions. I have 
witnessed quite a number of instances of this kind, but 
such things always give me pain. 

The year ended, I was off for Conference at Ox- 
ford, Miss. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 
In the Delta. 

The year just closed had been so abundantly 
crowned with success in revival work that I had not 
entertained the slightest notion of doing anything else ; 
but I was not yet ready to sever my connection with 
the Conference. I was still very foolishly putting my 
connection with the Conference ahead of the voice of 
God. But I had not imagined there would be any fur- 
ther difficulty in the way of my sustaining the same 
relation I had the preceding year — supernumerary — 
and hence hadn't planned anything else ; but to my sur- 
prise, and I must say great disappointment, when I 
reached the session of the Conference at Oxford I 
found a growing sentiment among our ministers 
against this kind of work; and was soon convinced, 
without having yet asked it, that I would not be given 
the supernumerary relation again. I never passed 
through a darker season at Conference before or since. 
I felt that God had given his approval of the course I 
had been pursuing by setting his seal on the work; 
while, on the other hand, the Church I had always 
loved so much opposed it to the finish; and I decided 
again to heed the voice of the Church and let it be 
held responsible at the final judgment for what I might 
have done and did not. 

So I was again appointed to a work. As stated in 
a former chapter, I had purchased a home at Coffee- 

(216) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 217 

ville, Miss., and was moving on very favorably in 
the way of paying for it ; but this new act on the part 
of my Conference would necessitate my giving this 
all up, as I was appointed to another part of the Con- 
ference territory. My appointment for the year, as 
announced by Bishop Galloway, was at Hebron; but 
as there were some physical disabilities in the way of 
my serving that work, I was changed after the Con- 
ference had adjourned and placed at Australia and 
Duncan, in the Mississippi Bottom. This would be my 
first experience in the swamps as pastor. It wasn't 
long, however, until we had sold our home at Coffee- 
ville, packed our goods, and were off for the new field 
of labor. Being advised by my presiding elder, how- 
ever, not to take my family into the bottom with me, 
as my wife was already quite an invalid, I secured a 
home for them in Memphis, and traveled back and 
forth to serve the charge. It was the best work I had 
ever served up to date from a financial standpoint, and 
the year was in a general way a pleasant one. The 
people were very kind to us, and seemed to appreciate 
my work ; but instead of preaching to multitudes, as I 
had the year before, and witnessing great numbers of 
conversions and additions to the Church, I preached 
this year to an average of about thirty people, and 
probably received a dozen into the Church in my own 
charge as the result of the year's work, which seemed 
to me to be a very small showing. 

I was in only two meetings outside during this year 
— one at Corpus Christi, Tex., and the other at At- 
lanta, Miss. Both were quite successful. The invita- 
tion from Corpus Christi came exactly at the time 
when I could purchase a ticket for one fare for the 



2i8 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

round trip, with thirty days' limit ; and hence, although 
it was a thousand miles from our home in Memphis, 
I went, and the Lord wonderfully blessed my labors. 
The victory would have been even greater, however, 
if it had not been for the closing exercises of the 
schools being on just at the time. I have tried two or 
three meetings in different places during preparation 
for commencement exercises, and my candid judgment 
is that this is not a very favorable time for a meeting. 
At the other meeting mentioned, at Atlanta, Miss., I 
did not have this difficulty to contend with, and hence 
the victory was decided and easy. 

On my return trip from Corpus Christi I had ar- 
ranged, by invitation, to visit my sisters in Collins 
County, Tex. One of them was single and spending 
a while with the married one and her family, and they 
had all seemed anxious for me to come by. But I was 
feeling so very unwell when the time came that I 
decided to continue my return trip home, as my sis- 
ter lived quite a distance out from the railroad, and 
I was afraid I would be sick away from home. It was, 
however, a great disappointment to them, as sister had 
arranged to play a trick on me. She was to be married, 
and the plan was to have everything in readiness and 
meet me at the gate, and have me perform the cere- 
mony before going in. This would certainly have 
been a very great surprise, as I did not know she had 
any plan ahead to get married at all. It was all new. 
Of course if I had had any intimation of such thing 
I would have gone by at the risk of being sick rather 
than have her disappointed. When I heard from her 
after reaching home she was married, and it was quite 
a little while before I got to see her again. 



.Trialsjand Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 219 

While on our visit to the Atlanta meeting it was our 
(I mean myself and family) privilege to attend anoth- 
er one of Sam Jones's meetings at West Point. This 
was the third time I had been in his meetings. It was, 
as usual with him, a great meeting. 

On my return to my charge I was accompanied by 
my brother-in-law, Prof. R. B. Smith, and succeeded 
in helping him secure a school among my friends at 
Carrollton, where he remained and taught successfully 
four years, and got a pretty good start in life's work, 
as the school paid him well. 

During my year spent in the regular pastorate in 
the Bottom some very pleasant friendships were 
formed — notably with the Browns, the Doves, the Mar- 
tins, the Deesons, and others. But I cannot pass this 
point without making special mention of David Allen 
and family. It has never been my pleasure to visit 
a more sunshiny home than this, and I was so favora- 
bly impressed with Brother Allen himself, both as a 
Christian gentleman and an honored citizen, that I 
named my baby boy for him, so that Allen is now a 
household word with us. This child's second name is 
Malone, for Brother A. L. Malone, a noble Christian 
gentleman of Jonesboro, Ark. If he makes as good 
a man as either of these gentlemen, I shall be satis- 
fied. 

We found Memphis a very pleasant place for resi- 
dence, and Mrs. Kilgore's health was greatly improved 
during our stay there. I was very glad we did not 
move to the Bottom, as there was a fearful overflow 
in the Mississippi during the year, and we would have 
necessarily suffered great uneasiness, as the parsonage 
was located just inside the levee and many people were 



220 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

compelled to -move out, some having lost all their be- 
longings. I never suffered so much anxiety in my life 
for a people as I did this year, and I hope I will never 
have to again. My visits to the charge in other re- 
spects were very pleasant. 

I traveled on the boats up and down the river most- 
ly, and found this delightful. The river men are so 
pleasant and accommodating. It was on the boat this 
year, however, that I witnessed the first round dancing, 
and I must confess that I looked on with astonishment 
and wondered how on earth parents can ever consent 
for their daughters to take part in such dissipations. 
I felt then and feel yet that I would prefer to see my 
only sweet daughter in her grave than to commit her 
to the ballroom as I witnessed it on the boat that night. 
Many other things occurred during this year that I 
should like to mention, but many things must be left 
unwritten. 

At the close of this year I transferred to the White 
River Conference, hoping to secure a Sunday school 
agency or something else that would let me go foot 
loose and free in my chosen field; but in this I was 
disappointed again, as I was appointed to Jonesboro 
Station. Of this I shall write later, however. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 
Jonesboro Station. 

A description was given in a former chapter of a 
gracious revival held in this place three years previous 
to my appointment here as "preacher in charge." The 
meeting mentioned had in the providence of God 
opened the way for a number of other meetings almost 
equally successful, and also probably influenced this 
appointment; and if I had wanted a pastoral charge at 
all, there was not another one in the White River Con- 
ference I would have preferred to this. Jonesboro was 
at this time a growing young town of three thousand 
inhabitants, had a Methodist Church with more than 
three hundred members, and was located at the junc- 
tion of railroads, giving easy access to all points, thus 
making it a very desirable charge. Circumstances were 
such, however, that we could not move to the charge 
at once, but remained in Memphis, a distance of sixty- 
four miles away, during the winter months. I filled 
the pulpit on Sundays, and kept up the work otherwise 
until we could move. 

My board of stewards this year was composed of the 
following men: A. L. Malone, John Knight, Jerry 
Snyder, Les. Ware, Dock Anderson, Judge Brook- 
field, Tom Ellis, Jesse Gregg, and Dr. Luterlaw. It 
would be hard to select a company of wiser counsel- 
ors from any congregation than is named here. I 

(22T) 



2.22 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

found them all ready to respond to any call to duty, 
and they provided liberally for their pastor. Some of 
them have gone to their reward. They were among 
God's noblemen. 

When I reached Jonesboro to fill my first appoint- 
ment after Conference I was met at the train and 
taken to the home of A. L. Malone, where I was right 
royally entertained while in the city on this visit. A 
little incident occurred while here which left its im- 
press on my life. I had used tobacco more or less all 
the way since I was a boy, and had never had 
any very serious convictions as to its evils. After 
supper that night I remarked to Brother Malone that 
I had forgotten to get anything to smoke and would 
therefore walk down town a little, as it was Saturday 
night and I knew I could make no arrangements be- 
fore Monday if I did not go then. Brother Malone, 
with some evident surprise, replied that he didn't know 
I used tobacco at all. No one in his family ever 
touched it, as I learned later. But I went and got the 
cigars, and on my return to the home joined a Captain 
Winton in a social smoke in the family room, although 
if I had known the sentiment in the home on this line 
I would not have done so. Next morning in conver- 
sation something was said about some one being a 
member of the Church, when little Jamie, their 
bright-faced six-year-old boy, who seemed to have 
been paying but little attention to what was going on, 
raised his head and said : "Who ? That old smoker a 
member of the Church ?" I made no reply to this, but 
kept quite silent; but this was the beginning of the 
end of my tobacco habit. While I did not leave off 
the practice at once, yet with this impression made 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 223 

from such an unexpected source everything that fol- 
lowed on this subject only influenced me the more. 

Before I left this same home Dr. Stoddard — a clean- 
shaven, well-dressed, sober physician, who had called 
to invite me to take New Year's dinner in his home — 
when he saw me smoking said, with an appearance of 
disappointment: "I didn't know you smoked." Two 
weeks later I was standing in the front of a drug store 
in company with my own little boy, who had just 
asked me for a nickel and had been refused, I having 
said to him, "I can't be always giving you nickels," 
thinking to teach him a lesson in economy ; but unin- 
tentionally I turned to the clerk in Jerry Snyder's drug 
store and said : "Give me a dime's worth of tobacco." 
So there I was refusing my little boy a nickel with 
which he wanted to buy something and turning in- 
stantly and spending two nickels for this filthy weed. 
My first impression when I had thought of how this 
looked was to return the tobacco to the clerk and quit 
then and there, as I would not have had my boy learn 
the habit for any amount of money — or at least I felt 
this way about it. But I kept the tobacco, and, without 
making any further reference to the matter one way 
or another, I gave my boy the nickel he had asked for, 
and thus paid my way to "Tarshish" with this. How- 
ever, I began to form resolutions to quit. Two or 
three times during the next few weeks I threw my 
tobacco or cigars away without making mention of 
my convictions or these resolutions to any one; but I 
would soon buy another supply. It seemed that I 
didn't have sufficient will power to quit it. 

In the fall of the same year at the session of the St. 
Louis Conference, at Sikeston, Mo., I was associated 



224 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

with a Christian gentleman from Michigan who 
seemed to be filled with the Holy Ghost. He made 
some telling remarks as to the evils of this habit; and 
I slipped to the fireplace when no one was looking 
and put my piece of tobacco behind the grate, feeling 
that I would use it no more; but this resolution was 
also soon broken, and I continued its use until the fol- 
lowing February, about two months from the time 
mentioned above. I was at Charleston, Mo., conduct- 
ing a revival meeting, and was being entertained at the 
Kindrick House, one of the leading hotels of the place, 
and among the first things I did after reaching the 
house was to sit at the stove in the office in compa- 
ny with a number of others and smoke a cigar, and 
then another, and later still another. The hotel was 
kept by Mrs. Fletcher, whose son was clerk in the 
hotel and was not a Christian. Sister Fletcher was a 
member of the Methodist Church, and had expressed 
a hope that her boy would be brought in at this meet- 
ing, and hoped that my presence in the house would 
have an influence in this direction ; but my smoking had 
made a wrong impression, as the young man did not 
use tobacco himself and was very much prejudiced 
against it. So I was sitting in the reading room just 
opposite the office writing my wife a letter when a 
number of persons — traveling men and others — had 
gathered about the stove, and were discussing the 
meeting, and some one remarked that these Christians 
would go whining around trying to get everybody to 
join the Church when in fact they were themselves no 
better than other folks — "they would chew as much 
tobacco and smoke as many cigars and do other things 
that were filthy and wicked just like other sinners." 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 225 

Thus the conversation went on. I did not turn to 
see who was doing the talking, but had an idea that 
this young clerk at the hotel was taking part in it, and 
it is not necessary for me to say here that I did not 
smoke any more in the office of that hotel. But I 
went down to the church, and was smoking a cigar in 
the pastor's study when the presiding elder, who used 
tobacco himself, said to me: "Kilgore, you will have 
to be a little careful how you smoke here, as it is very 
offensive to Dr. Goldman" (the pastor). So I threw 
away the stub at once, and said : "Well, I won't smoke 
here, then." It seemed that they were after me. So 
I went to my room at the hotel, and thought I would 
have it all to myself; but about the time I had gotten 
in a good way smoking there some one rapped on my 
door, and when I opened it there stood three young 
men. One of them, a Christian, had brought his two 
young friends around to be instructed as to the plan 
of salvation, as they were among our penitents; but 
when they found my room full of tobacco smoke, they 
too expressed some surprise. I then began sure enough 
to feel that this habit was getting terribly in my way, 
and resolved to quit it. That same afternoon young 
Fletcher attended the service. It was the first time 
he had been to church since my arrival there ; and 
while I wanted to reach him, I felt that I had gotten 
in my own way, as above mentioned, and so I told the 
people in the talk that afternoon that we all did wrong, 
but we must do better. I did this as a sort of apology 
before this young man ; but our service at that hour 
seemed a failure when I wanted it to be a success. I 
went down to the pastor's study, in the basement of the 
church. It was a large brick church, with Sunday 
15 



226 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

school room and pastor's study in the basement and 
audience room above. I was now alone in the study 
long enough to reflect a little, and I took my piece of 
tobacco out of my pocket and threw it over the fence 
near by and threw a cigar over the fence, and dusted 
out my pockets and washed my mouth and beard, and 
said to myself, "Now I'll quit ;" but something seemed 
to say to me (I reckon it was the devil) : "Now, you 
are the biggest fool in town; you'll buy another piece 
to-morrow." This was the way I had been doing ; and 
I think I wanted tobacco during the following half 
hour worse than I had ever wanted it. The tempta- 
tion was fearful. I was almost persuaded even here 
to go and pick up the tobacco I had thrown away, but 
I said: "I won't, I won't; I'll be a man." Feeling 
my weakness and fearing that I would never be able to 
keep this resolution, I returned to the audience room 
above, closed the door after me, and went down in 
the altar, got down on my knees, and poured out my 
soul before God in earnest prayer for help to over- 
come this habit; and even in the midst of my prayer 
the desire for tobacco was strong. The battle was a 
hard one, but I continued in prayer until I must have 
been in agony. I got on my face in the altar, and 
begged God for help. I told him he had helped me 
overcome other habits, such as the dance, card-play- 
ing, whisky, profanity, and other things, and now I 
needed help for this. As I yet prayed I felt the power 
come, and began to realize myself a victor, and was 
soon on my feet saying aloud, though alone in the 
room: "Thank God, I'm saved from this habit! thank 
God, I'm saved !" And so I went down and went at 
once to the hotel to tell young Fletcher that if my 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 227 

tobacco habit had been in his way it need not be any 
more, that I would use no more. That night I told 
my experience, and declared myself saved from this 
habit. For ten years I did not even touch tobacco 
with the ends of my fingers in any form, nor did I 
have the least desire for it. Whether the taste for 
tobacco was gone or not. I cannot tell ; but I do know 
that I had no desire for it whatever. Young Mr. 
Fletcher became interested and was soon converted 
and joined the Church and was ever afterwards, as 
long as I went in and out at Charleston, among my 
best friends. After this I always had a home in his 
hotel without charge when I chose to go there. This 
same meeting at Charleston resulted in two hundred 
and fifteen additions to the Churches and a great up- 
building of the cause of Christ. 

But I must get back to the continued record of my 
year and work at Jonesboro, as I have digressed from 
this to give this experience with the tobacco habit and 
the manner of my deliverance, hoping that my expe- 
rience may be helpful to some one who may chance to 
read this chapter. Some may be ready to say one can 
do anything like this in the exercise of will power ; but 
I did not seem to need any will power after I got this 
victory — this help from on high. 

The year at Jonesboro was measurably successful, 
and was quite pleasant in every way. Some good 
meetings during the year resulted in adding a goodly 
number to the Church, and in every way the work was 
quite satisfactory, and specially pleasant from a social 
standpoint both for myself and family. 

I was also in some very successful meetings this year 
with Rev. J. H. Anderson at Harrisburg and Vandale, 



228 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Ark. These two meetings together resulted in bring- 
ing more than a hundred into the Methodist Church. 
At Vandale we witnessed twenty-five happy conver- 
sions in a single service, and among these were some 
of the leaders of the town — the Hains, the Vanns, and 
others. Some of them were notable cases, and will 
probably be mentioned later on. Many other things 
occurred during this year that I should like to men- 
tion, but I suppose I will have to pass them by. 

I had announced early in the year that I would not 
be their pastor another year, as I had decided to lo- 
cate, if necessary, in order to engage in revival work 
altogether, as I still felt that God had called me to this 
special line of work and I had a love for it as well. 
And so the year rounded up with this decision in my 
mind. But on the way to the Conference session at 
Newport a presiding elder from the St. Louis Confer- 
ence approached me and asked me to allow myself 
to be transferred to that Conference to take charge of 
Cape Girardeau Station, which had been left without 
a pastor by the brother appointed to the charge having 
transferred to another Conference. I had no idea of 
doing this ; but this elder insisted that this move would 
give me access to some new territory in my evangelis- 
tic work later on, and that he would open the way for 
me to hold some meetings in his district, and he also 
secured the influence of the presiding bishop in the 
matter ; and through their joint efforts "I was persuaded 
to accept this change, greatly to my own surprise. It 
wasn't long until everything had been rounded up at 
Jonesboro, and we were off for Cape Girardeau, of 
which I will write in my next chapter. I only wish 
to say here that, while the year was a hard one in many 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 229 

respects, it did open the way to a large number of 
meetings in Missouri and other points farther north, 
the record of which will be given hereafter. 



An Incident. — One day while I was in charge of 
the Church at Jonesboro a gentleman called at the par- 
sonage and said he wanted me to go with him. I asked 
him if there was anything special he wanted with me. 
He said there was. I gave him ample time to tell 
me; but as he did not do this, I finally asked him 
what the trouble was, as he looked serious. He re- 
plied that he would inform me later, and insisted that 
I get ready to go at once. I asked him how far it was, 
thinking it was in some part of the town ; but he told 
me it was a mile or two out. I asked him if he had 
brought any conveyance. I had just reached home 
from the District Conference at Paragould, where T 
had eng'aged in some hard work, and was quite worn 
and jaded, and did not feel like making such a trip any- 
way. He informed me that he had no conveyance, but 
insisted that I must go anyway, but would not yet make 
known to me his mission. So I went to the stable and 
secured a rig and took him in with me and went to his 
home, which proved a distance of three miles, and that 
too over some very rough roads. I am sure he did not 
speak a dozen words on the w T hole trip. I could not 
imagine what he meant, and yet tried to imagine many 
things; and while I tried to make it as light as possi- 
ble, I confess I did not feel entirely comfortable. I 
had been compelled to rebuke some parties in my con- 
gregation on the preceding Sunday night, and did not 
know but that there might be some mischief in this fel- 
low's mind toward me. Then T would try to imagine 



230 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

that there was probably a marriage ahead. But my sus- 
pense was only intensified when we had reached the 
man's gate and he hopped out of the buggy, and, start- 
ing away in an opposite direction over the hill, told me 
to hitch my horse and go in, not waiting to go in and 
introduce me to his family. But I went in and awaited 
his return. It was but a little while until he came in, 
and after I had waited a proper time I told him he 
must tell me what he wanted with me, as it was 
necessary for me to return home to look after some 
matters there. Upon this he informed me that he 
wanted me to baptize him and his wife and five chil- 
dren. One of the children, a daughter, was old enough 
to choose for herself, and hence had to be consulted, as 
I felt; but I found that she had been converted pre- 
vious to this, and was ready to receive baptism. The 
wife and mother also consented to the act, and so I 
placed them and began with the father and on down 
to the youngest child, thus baptizing him and his 
household "straightway." This done, I was ready, 
after some words of instruction to the family, to re- 
turn home. But he did not let me leave until he had 
filled my buggy with fruit, chickens, etc. ; and thus I 
was paid for my trip. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 
Cape Girardeau. 

As stated in the last chapter, this year in the St. 
Louis Conference was in many respects one of the 
hardest years of all my work in the ministry. In the 
first place, Cape Girardeau was an exceedingly diffi- 
cult field to serve at this time. True, we had a 
town with a population of five or six thousand; but 
our Church was very weak numerically, and the mem- 
bership poor. There were seven Protestant denomina- 
tions in the town, and they were all weak numerically 
and financially, as the Roman Catholics were largely 
in the majority, unless we except the Lutherans. 
Hence they had an overshadowing influence over 
everything, dominating every public enterprise, and 
therefore rendering it almost next to impossible for 
our people to do anything worth mentioning. Still we 
tugged along and held our own. 

We reached the Cape just in the beginning of a 
very cold spell; and as our goods were delayed some- 
what in reaching us, we were taken into the homes of 
some of our people and kindly entertained until the 
goods came. But as we had not planned for such a 
cold snap and were considerably exposed in reaching 
our stopping places, some of my family were attacked 
with la grippe, to start with, I being one of the number. 
When the day came for us to go into the parsonage, 
I went a little in advance of my family, and when they 

(23O 



232 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

reached there I was in bed, where I remained for two 
weeks or more; and all this time there was a heavy 
snow on the ground. Our little daughter was also 
down with la grippe. Our parsonage was right on 
the brow of a high hill, and was known as the "Eagle's 
Nest." The house was built in 1811, and hence was 
eighty-one years old when we occupied it. It was a 
brick structure, however, and, though quite small, still 
was comfortable. The house was standing at the time 
of the earthquake of 1811, and was still unshaken. Go- 
ing in as we did, and at this time, there had been no 
time to provide fuel for such extraordinarily cold 
weather ; and as everybody else was shut in to a great 
extent, we had some difficulty in keeping ourselves sup- 
plied. 

As soon as I was able to get out again and the cold 
wave was somewhat broken, I began a meeting in our 
church, that I might in this way have a better oppor- 
tunity to make the acquaintance of the people whom I 
had been sent to serve. The meeting was good, and 
fifteen or twenty persons united with our Church. 

It was not long until I was sent for to assist in a 
meeting at Charleston, Mo., of which mention has 
been made in a former chapter, where two hun- 
dred and fifteen united with the Churches. This 
opened the way for other meetings during the year at 
Morley, Fredericktown, Jackson, and Sikeston — all in 
the Charleston District and all more or less successful. 
This was notably true of the meeting at Sikeston, 
where more than a hundred were added to the Church. 
This meeting was in session at the time of the great 
"landslide" election of Grover Cleveland to the Presi- 
dency of the United States; but the election seemed 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 233 

to have absolutely no effect on the meeting. It simply 
went sweeping on to greater victory to the close. 

It was at Sikeston that I first met with Rev. Richard 
Wilkerson, now serving a large city Church, he hav- 
ing just arrived in this country. I put him down 
then as being one of the finest of Christian characters 
as well as an able minister of the gospel ; and although* 
I afterwards had the pleasure of entertaining him in 
my home and have since been very kindly entertained 
in his home, I have never had reason to change my 
mind from the first impression he made on me. He 
afterwards assisted me in a meeting at Osceola, Ark., 
and did some fine work. This was another meeting 
of this same year, and was a glorious victory itself. 
Some old difficulties were settled, the Church was 
greatly revived, and a large number were added to 
the membership. Rev. James F. Jernigan was closing 
his fourth year in this pastorate, and was in great 
favor with the people. I had been associated with 
Jernigan before, and always found him to be a very 
genial companion and a devout Christian. 

Dr. John M. Crowe was in charge of our Church at 
Sikeston, Mo., when I held the meeting there, and 
was then and is now one of the most brilliant men in 
all our ministry. I have found it very helpful indeed 
to be associated with such consecrated and cultured 
men as those whose names occur in connection with 
these meetings. 

I assisted in other meetings during this year at 
North Little Rock and Forrest City, with fine results 
at both places, especially at the last-named place. This 
was my second visit to Forrest City in this line of 
work, and hence I was by no means a stranger there. 



234 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

I cannot say the Church was prospering at Cape 
Girardeau all this time, however. But the compensa- 
tion was so small there anyway that I would have been 
compelled to get out and in some way supplement my 
salary, even if I had not engaged in these meetings ; 
and besides all this absence from the charge on my 
part, my wife's health had broken again to such ex- 
tent that I was compelled to move her from there 
about the middle of the year, being so advised by her 
attending physician. Hence I had carried her and the 
children back to Memphis, where we remained this 
time more than two years. Leaving Cape Girardeau 
with them, the trip was made down the Mississippi 
River on board the "City of Monroe." The trip was 
delightful. This was the first river experience some 
of my family had ever enjoyed, and they were all 
charmed with the trip. We were on board the vessel 
three days, and, except the difference in time, found 
it much cheaper than a railroad trip and much more 
pleasant. I returned to the Cape, however, and filled 
out the year's work, except the absences already re- 
corded; and even then I always tried to arrange to 
have the pulpit filled on Sundays. 

When the Conference came I asked for a supernu- 
merary relation again, and secured it, and hence was 
free to work in revivals another year and still hold my 
connection with the Conference. The session of the 
St. Louis Conference this year was at Kirkwood, and 
Bishop Galloway presided. Kirkwood is beautiful for 
situation; but the Conference was not up to the aver- 
age in point of interest. The citizens paid but little 
attention to its sessions or religious services, and the 
preachers did not appear very spiritual themselves. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 235 

Bishop Galloway observed more than once that he had 
never seen the members of any Conference less at- 
tentive to the work of its sessions or less spiritual, 
and seemed to deplore the fact. However, there were 
some strong sermons and addresses delivered during* 
the session, as there were some very strong represent- 
ative men connected with the body as well as visiting 
ministers of like ability. 

So the work of another year is finished, and thus the 
books of life are being written and we are all passing 
on down to the wind-up of all things earthly so far as 
we are concerned. No doubt many mistakes are made 
as the years come and go — mistakes, too, that we would 
correct after they are made if this were possible — but 
as we can never be perfect in judgment, we will simply 
have to let these things go down as among the sins 
of infirmity and go on and try to profit by these expe- 
riences and trials. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

Serious Sickness and More Work. 

In the closing up of the work of the year recorded 
in the preceding chapter I was dispatched home to a 
sick child — the baby. Soon after I reached home my 
wife, who had already been overtaxed with watch- 
ing and who was herself surcharged with the same 
malarial influences, succumbed to the disease, and this 
was soon followed by two more of the children, and 
then still two others — all five down with malarial fever 
— while the baby was only convalescent, and hence 
fretful and hard to satisfy. It took three rooms to 
accommodate the crowd, as our rooms were small and 
we had to arrange thus. This necessitated three fires 
being kept up day and night, as the weather was very 
cold. After one week's watching, however, two of the 
children began to improve, but I thought seriously 
for several days that I was going to lose their mother 
and the other two children. I had no help except a 
hired cook. I wrote for my wife's mother, but she 
was sick and could not come. I also sent for her 
brother, who was a physician, but he was so circum- 
stanced that he could not come. I was about to 
break down myself, as this tremendous strain had now 
been on more than two weeks, and I was worn out in 
protracted meeting work to begin with. But by this 
time the other two children had taken a change for the 
better, and it was but a few days before I began to 
(236) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 237 

have them at the table with me ; but my wife was still 
quite sick, and I telegraphed her sister at West Point, 
Miss., for help, and she sent her daughter, who spent 
quite a while with us and was a great comfort to us 
as well as help. The good Lord very graciously re- 
stored them all to me and made it possible for me to 
get out to work again. Praise his name for his great 
goodness in bringing us through this awfully trying- 
period ! 

Up to this time it had always taken all I could get 
and more to meet financial demands, owing to the in- 
valid condition of my wife, as she was nearly always 
entirely incompetent to look after anything, so that 
frequently our income was not sufficient to meet the 
demands ; but then we could usually catch up at some 
other point where this had been the case, and in this 
way make the years round up favorably. But when 
the siege of sickness came at Memphis, as above 
described, and where our expenses were tremen- 
dously great, I began to find myself embarrassed 
in a way that was both provoking and unmanage- 
able, only as I could borrow from time to time so as 
to keep these matters transferred, and w T orking all 
the time as I did to try to bring in sufficient funds 
from the field to keep these obligations from growing, 
even if I couldn't settle them all off. But the begin- 
ning of the end in my wife's case had come, as she 
was never well again, although she lived after this 
nearly four years. It was, therefore, a "tug of war'' 
all the way from this on with us from a financial stand- 
point. While, as may be seen in future chapters, the 
Lord blessed my labors in a very gracious way after 
this, still the compensation for the work was not suffi- 



238 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

cient to meet current expenses and settle these back 
claims. But I tried to manage them by transferring 
them from time to time, as above suggested, hoping all 
the time I would finally become able to settle all and 
be free again, .and so we pass into a new year. 

My first engagement, after the recovery of my family 
sufficiently for me to leave home, was at Chico, Tex., 
with Rev. Ben H. Bounds, with whom I had worked in 
meetings before, and our meeting here was a decided 
victory. The work was begun in the Methodist church, 
which was itself a good-sized house of worship; but, 
although it was winter time and the weather cold, the 
people came in such great numbers that it was soon 
very evident that we would have to find larger quarters 
to accommodate the crowds, and we secured the use of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian church, which was much 
larger, and the meeting thus continued until we had 
scored a great victory. This opened the way to other 
points in Texas and elsewhere. An incident occurred 
here at the closing service which resulted in such a 
way as to be made quite impressive. A gentleman who 
had, with his wife and probably other members of his 
family, been converted during the meeting and united 
with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church came to 
where I was sitting inside the altar and dropped on his 
knees at my side, saying that he wanted me to go to 
Rives, Tenn., and hold a meeting. I thanked him, but 
informed him that it was not my custom to go to 
places to hold meetings without an invitation, to which 
he replied that they had a lot of kinsfolk there and 
would see that I got an invitation. I then told him it 
would be necessary for the invitation to come from our 
pastor there, or I could not accept it. He then stated 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 239 

that Brother Bonner, of Chico, where this meeting was 
being held, a father in the Church, had a son at Rives, 
who was a Methodist and quite prominent, and that 
through him he was certain the matter could be 
worked, and said furthermore that he felt I must go. 
He said he had an aged father at Rives who was not 
in the Church and who had always been wicked, and 
he had been impressed that if I would go there and 
hold a meeting his father would be saved ; and that he 
also had a brother there out of the ark of safety, and 
said again that I must go. He took out his pocket- 
book and put six dollars in my hand, stating that it 
would take this amount to pay my railroad fare from 
my home in Memphis to Rives, and that he wanted to 
pay this for me. I told him to keep his money, that 
something might happen to prevent my going; but he 
still insisted that I must go, and left the money in my 
hand. The name of this brother was Frank Dickey. 
We may see the results of all this later on in this same 
year, and I only say here that the invitation did come 
and the meeting was held at Rives, a description of 
which will be given in its proper place. 

From Chico I went to Alvord, a distance of only 
fourteen miles, to conduct a meeting for Rev. W. T. 
Ayers. I was accompanied to this place by Brother 
Bounds, who remained only a day or two, however, 
and returned to his own charge. The work at Alvord 
moved off slowly, but increased steadily until it be- 
came the greatest meeting in the history of the town, 
as testified to by the oldest citizens. A great number 
were added to the Church, and dear Brother Ayers 
and his people were happy. Brother Ayers is a noble 
fellow, and his wife isn't a whit behind him. It is 



240 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

easy to work with people like them. We had adopted 
the plan of holding cottage prayer meetings here in 
the afternoons at such places as were offered for this 
purpose. Early in the history of the meeting I was 
dining in a home one day where I had been invited by 
the Christian husband, and while seated at the dining 
table I asked a lady sitting next to me if she expected 
to attend the cottage prayer meeting that afternoon, 
just across the street. Her reply was that she thought 
she would remain there and let our hostess go, if 
she would; but after a moment's pause she said she 
was afraid she wouldn't go. I then remarked: "O 
yes, she'll go." I asked her if she had been attending 
our meeting. She said she had not. I then told her 
she was "missing half of her life," that we were hav- 
ing a glorious meeting and that she should come, when 
she replied with decided firmness that she would not 
attend. I then, just for a little pleasantry, told her 
that if she would go she could go with me, and her 
reply to this was: "That would be an inducement, 
wouldn't it?" She was afterwards persuaded by her 
friends to go; and, as the Lord would direct, we 
had the Bible lesson of Ruth and Orpah that afternoon. 
The lesson got hold of this beautiful young wife 
and mother so that she surrendered her young heart to 
God in that service, and afterwards did not miss a 
service during the entire meeting, often bringing her 
little children to church with her in order to make it 
possible to attend. Novel-reading had been her trou- 
ble. She was wasting her young life, feeding her mind 
on trash ; but the evening after her coversion she went 
home and made kindling of her novels, such as she 
had been reading; and when a friend, who did not 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 241 

know of her change, brought her a new novel of the 
same kind and offered it as a present, she took it and, 
asking his pardon, put it behind the back log, stating 
to him that she had changed her life. She bought 
a new Bible and subscribed for the Texas Christian 
Advocate and the Woman's Missionary Advocate, and 
thus began to lead a new life. She became Secretary 
of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Church 
where she lived ; her husband afterwards became a min- 
ister of the gospel and is now a member of the North 
Texas Conference. This is Rev. Luther Hamilton. 

The presiding elder of the district. Rev. R. M. 
Powers, was passing through the community and 
spent a day or two in the above meeting, which 
gave rise to my being invited to go at once, when 
through at Alvord, to the assistance of Rev. G. S. 
Sexton at St. Jo, where a meeting was already in 
progress. My route from Alvord to St. Jo was via 
Henrietta, Tex., where I spent the night and heard 
a lecture by a Roman Catholic priest. It was a fine 
lecture, but not a true representation of their teachings 
or faith, but rather sugar-coated to suit the people to 
whom it was delivered, as is usually the case with them. 
I reached St. Jo on Wednesday morning and found 
Brother Sexton at the station to meet me. He seemed 
very glad to see me, and gave me a pleasant place 
to stay, in the home of one of his parishioners. I 
found Brother Tom Puryear from Jonesboro, Ark., 
living here. He seemed very glad to see me, as eight 
members of his father's family had been brought into 
the Church under my ministry at Jonesboro, including 
the father himself. Brother Tom did everything pos- 
sible to make mv stay at St. Jo pleasant. 
16 



242 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Brother Sexton and his helpers had laid the founda- 
tion deep and strong for a good work, and hence in a 
few days, building on the foundation, we had, by the 
assistance of divine grace, added fifty-one to the mem- 
bership of the Methodist Church at St. Jo. Twenty- 
six grown young people were received in one class on 
the closing Sunday afternoon. It was truly inspiring. 
Our organist during the meeting was a beautiful Bap- 
tist girl, daughter of a Baptist minister, and at the 
close of the meeting the members of our Methodist 
choir made her a present of a nice gold watch, and 
had me to present it before the congregation at the 
closing exercise, just before the final benediction. 
Thus another victory had crowned my work, and I was 
off for my Tennessee home. The route was via Dallas, 
where I spent an hour pleasantly in the office of the 
Texas Christian Advocate, with that prince of editors, 
Rev. J. W. Hill. Brother Sexton accompanied me as 
far as Jefferson, Tex., where he was going to visit his 
affianced. He was married there soon afterwards. 
I was soon at home again to spend a few days with 
the loved ones after an absence of seven weeks. 



CHAPTER L. 

More Meetings. 

After spending a little time at home with the loved 
ones, I left again to fill an engagement with Rev. 
S. F. Brown at Rector, Ark. Rector is a pretty little 
town on the Cotton Belt Railroad near the Missouri 
line, and is made up of an excellent class of people, 
as are all those towns on Crowley's Ridge all the way 
from Missouri to Helena, Ark. My home while at 
Rector was in the pleasant home of "Billie Cox," and 
he and his accomplished wife and daughter and noble 
son did all they could to make my stay pleasant. I 
can never forget their unstinted kindness to me while 
there. We were in a good meeting almost from the 
beginning. Among our first converts I recall the name 
of Mr. Barlow, a lawyer. Mr. Barlow was said to 
have been quite wicked, and afterwards confessed this 
himself, but his conversion was clear and powerful. 
He was soon called on to pray and exercise otherwise 
in public during the meeting, and was powerful in 
prayer and seemed to enjoy great freedom in all he 
attempted to do. He was a man of very strong in- 
tellect, and seemed quite willing to turn all this in 
favor of the right. The day following his conversion 
I was invited to dine at his home ; and when we were 
all seated at the dinner table and the blessing had been 
asked, conversation turned to the meeting and refer- 
ence was made to the number of converts already re- 

(243) 



244 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ported. Sister Barlow, who had begun to serve the 
coffee, pushed the cups back and began to praise God, 
and we all joined her in praising him, and so we would 
eat a little and shout a little, and thus "we did eat our 
meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising 
God, and having favor with all the people. And the 
Lord added to the Church daily such as were being 
saved." (Acts ii. 46, 47.) 

We were in the apostolic succession here. Mr. Out- 
law, the druggist, was saved and the Barbers and still 
others from public places, until the meeting began to be 
the topic of conversation in every place, and the whole 
town was moved. About this time Mrs. Allen stood 
up in the congregation near the altar during a tes- 
timony meeting, and with one hand raised toward 
heaven and trembling, with a shower of tears on her 
face, said: "I must have my husband; I must have 
my husband." Ed Allen (her husband) was one of 
the meanest of men, if reports were true — and these he 
did not deny. He had been known to lie flat on his 
back in his home on Sundays and compel his sweet 
daughter to go to the saloon for liquor under severe 
threats if she failed to do so, and this was the man for 
whom prayer was so earnestly asked. But I saw Ed 
Allen two days later in the meeting stand up on the 
opposite side of the altar from the chancel and seem to 
swell up and puff and blow, when finally he said, "I 
shall have to talk or burst," and continued until he 
had made a full confession and was mightily saved. 
Of course there was much rejoicing over these con- 
versions, and the work increased until one hundred and 
twenty odd had reported themselves saved and nearly 
a hundred had been added to our Church. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 245 

One evening Jerry Snyder, a religious little druggist 
from Jonesboro, was conducting the meeting, and he 
said he thanked God he was "chock-full of religion" — 
"just ground it up" with his prescriptions — and any 
one who knew Jerry Snyder at that time knew this was 
about as nearly true as it could have been of any one. 
The leader that afternoon told us all to go home and 
at a proper or convenient time go to our rooms or 
some secret place of prayer and remain there in prayer 
until we obtained a new blessing from God, and then 
bring the blessing to church with us. I went to 
my room in company with this same Jerry Snyder, 
and we did remain in prayer until God gave us a very 
great blessing. As we went to church I remarked 
to Snyder that I did not feel physically strong enough 
to go into the service, and he replied that God didn't 
need my physical strength to run his work, that he 
was our strength ; and sure enough that night we had 
no sermon, no proposition, no invitation for penitents, 
but we did witness wave after wave of divine power, so 
that many shouts of praise went up to God. When a 
proposition was made for converts, thirty-one by actual 
count came down the aisle and gave their hands to 
thus testify that God for Christ's sake had pardoned 
their sins, and thus the work was made glorious. I 
had the pleasure of visiting Rector again a few months 
later. I was just passing through when they announced 
an appointment for me to preach. I saw Sister Allen 
stand again near the same place in the church and 
thank God for the meeting. She said that she had one 
of the happiest homes in Arkansas, that her husband 
had erected a family altar in their home, and that they 
had a different home in every way; and the last I 



246 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

heard from Ed Allen he stood like the everlasting 
mountains for God and the right. 

Notwithstanding all this manifest power and these 
wonderful demonstrations, there were then, as are al- 
ways in every place, some left unsaved. One man 
connected with the saloon business stood on the street 
in front of the church door, and in conversation with 
some of his kind, but in hearing of some of the Chris- 
tian workers, cursed the meeting; and the following 
night, after the meeting had closed and the ministers 
were gone to their homes, the wife of this same man 
started to retire and found her husband dead in bed. 
He had turned a deaf ear to the divine call, had slight- 
ed this great and last opportunity, and had cursed God 
and died. Poor deluded soul ! 

From Rector I returned to Memphis and conducted 
a two weeks' meeting for Rev. R. M. King at Penn- 
sylvania Avenue Church, where another victory was 
won for Christ and his cause. Under the first call for 
penitents twenty-one came forward and knelt at the 
altar; and but for a fire alarm given soon after they 
had reached the front, some would doubtless have been 
saved that night ; but this disturbed the meeting and the 
service soon closed. But on the following night twen- 
ty-two came forward and twenty-one of them professed 
conversion. For six consecutive nights an average of 
twenty conversions was reported, and the meeting 
before it closed resulted in adding more than a hundred 
to the membership of Brother King's Church. It is 
but doing justice to others to state here, however, that 
we were working in the wake of one of Rev. Sam 
Jones's meetings held in the city, and the victory was 
an easy one. These conversions were at the altar, after 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 247 

the old mourners' bench style, however, not simply 
holding up the hand in the congregation, as is so often 
the case in counting conversions. I have always 
stressed old bed-rock regeneration ; and as Brother 
Jones's meeting had left a great impression on the 
minds of the people, we had a fine opportunity to fol- 
low up the work and witness the above results. 
Among the seekers in this meeting was an old 
sailor who had spent most of his life at sea. He 
seemed quite penitent, and would come almost run- 
ning down the aisle to the altar and fall on his knees 
weeping. This went on into the second week of the 
meeting. He had finally given his name for Church 
membership, but continued to come to the altar as a 
seeker until one rainy afternoon we were in a service. 
There were but few, comparatively, present; but the 
interest was fine, and this old sailor was powerfully 
converted. When the service was over he went out 
through the rain and down the street, and when any 
one would speak to him he would exclaim : "Glory to 
God !" Even when one would say, "Good afternoon, 
Captain," he would reply: "Glory to God!" Another 
notable instance of conversion in this meeting was that 
of a beautiful Jewess, whose conversion was very 
bright. At the altar, where she was kneeling as a 
penitent, she expressed a desire to join the Methodist 
Church, but was not allowed to do this by her parents. 
She afterwards united with the Episcopal Church, 
however. This meeting gave me an opportunity to 
spend some time at home with my family, and at the 
same time be engaged in the work. 

My next engagement was with Rev. R. P. Witt at 
Kennett, Mo. Like most Methodist ministers, I found 



248 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Brother Witt quite companionable and easy to work 
with. I was entertained this time at the parsonage, 
and our daily associations were very pleasant indeed. 
Sister Witt was very kind to me, and she knew how 
to be. God bless these preachers' wives! They de- 
serve as much of the credit for any success their hus- 
bands may have as the husbands do themselves, for 
they make it possible for them to have success. On the 
other hand, if a wife happens to be out of harmony 
with her husband in the work, she can do as much 
to hinder and cripple him in his work as all other 
influences taken together. Some lives that would 
otherwise have been noble and useful have been 
wrecked in this way; but this, thank God, is the ex- 
ception and not the rule. We found Sister Witt among 
that noble band of women who are helpful rather than 
hurtful to their husbands in the work. I had a feeling 
from the beginning that the meeting at Kennett would 
be another victory for Christ. It did not look so at 
first, however, as their church — and it was not a large 
one — was not more than half filled at the first service. 
I told them of my feelings, however, and told them I 
was sure they would have to provide a larger room 
before we had gone far with the work. At this there 
was a visible smile over the congregation. Next night, 
however, the attendance had greatly increased, and 
while the church was not yet full I made inquiry as to 
where we could secure some additional seats. Be- 
ing informed that we could get as many chairs as we 
might find need of from a certain hall, arrangements 
were made at once to have them brought and placed 
in the church until all available space was occupied. 
So the next day the wagon, loaded with chairs, made 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 249 

two or three trips through the business part of the 
town, although we had not needed one of them yet; 
but that night the church was sure enough filled to 
overflowing, and I told them again that my only fears 
had been all the time that we would not have room for 
the people who would want to attend, and that, while 
I did not wish to put any one to any more trouble 
than possible, I thought the best thing to be done at 
once was to make some investigation as to whether 
a larger place could be secured for the meeting. I 
was informed early next morning that the courthouse 
could be had for the purpose, and that day all ar- 
rangements were made for moving the meeting to the 
courthouse. By this time there began to be some mani- 
fest excitement about the meeting and the interest in 
the service was good. In the meantime the gospel 
was being preached with all the earnestness I could 
command, and its efforts were already visible in the 
conviction of sinners and the resuscitation of the 
Church, and thus the work went on and increased un- 
til there were many seeking religion and large numbers 
being added to the Church. While their new court- 
house, where the meeting was now being held, was 
large and well arranged, still there was not standing 
room about the doors for the people who wanted to at- 
tend and could not get seats. The people came from 
miles around to attend the meeting. The number add- 
ed to the Church was large. Just here I had an ex- 
perience I hope never to have again. I had made an 
engagement to conduct a meeting at New Madrid, 
Mo., immediately following this one, giving full time 
for the two meetings, as I thought ; but when the time 
was about up for me to go to the new place our meet- 



250 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ing at Kennett was just as its height of interest, with 
a very large number of penitents, and so I wrote our 
pastor at New Madrid and wired him of the situation, 
stating to him that it looked like murder in the first 
degree to close our meeting at this point. But he wired 
back that it would be murder in the first degree at that 
end of the line if I failed to come to him as promised, 
and so I left them at Kennett, and went on to fill my 
engagement at New Madrid, and worked there hard 
for ten days and witnessed only one conversion. We 
would have continued the effort longer, although it 
appeared almost fruitless, but there was a rise in the 
river, so that the water backed in on the town in a 
way to obstruct travel, and we thought it useless to 
continue. 

Thus I had left the meeting where God was won- 
derfully manifesting his presence and power to go 
to this place of failure. I felt that this was a kind 
of rebuke for having in this way regarded the 
voice of man rather than God. We sometimes make 
appointments to suit our own convenience without con- 
sulting the Holy Ghost as to whether it is in harmony 
with his will or not, and at other times, as in the above 
instance, leave places where God has made known the 
fact that it is his time to favor Zion. We need wisdom 
from above for these things, and then the grace of 
courage to always carry out our convictions, being led 
by the Holy Ghost. The victory, however, was already 
great at Kennett, and if there was any mistake in the 
above matter, we must "let bygones be bygones/' and 
hurry on to other fields. 

Our next meeting was at Poplar Bluff, with Rev. 
Allen McFarland as preacher in charge. Brother Mc- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 25 1 

Farland is a South Carolinian, and a noble fellow 
he is. Poplar Bluff is a pretty town, located among the 
hills of Missouri, with a population of five thousand 
at the time this meeting was held. Many pleasant 
recollections are associated with this occasion; and 
while the work ought to have been much greater with 
the amount of material we had to work with, still the 
meeting was by no means a failure, as seventy-three 
persons were added to the membership of the Meth- 
odist Church there and the Christian people were en- 
couraged in their lives. One thing occurred here, how- 
ever, I wish to record. There was a fallen woman, 
daughter of a deceased minister of the gospel whose 
name is familiar throughout all our borders, whose 
life had been wrecked, and she was now living down 
in the slums. But doubtless wearied with such a life, 
she came under the influence of our meeting, and at a 
daytime service came forward in the deepest apparent 
penitence and professed conversion ; and later, when 
the importance of young converts uniting with the 
Church was being stressed in a general way, this wom- 
an, with evident embarrassment, came forward and 
gave her hand and name for membership in the Church. 
Some of her own sex took fright and declared that 
their Church would be ruined by the addition of such 
a person to its membership. Strange, indeed, how 
women will thus feel and act toward one of their own 
sex who has thus been unfortunate. Let an old drunk- 
en, debauched devil of the opposite sex make any 
demonstration in the direction of a change, and they 
will join the others in making a parade over him ; but 
let one of their own number fall, and they will ostracize 
her forever, and no effort on her part to reform will 



252 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

be considered. This is true at least in many places, 
and was true in the case mentioned above, as a con- 
ference was held among the women of the Church, 
her application considered, and she was rejected. I 
am not informed as to what ever became of her, but 
I am sure she went away from this Church discour- 
aged. I have witnessed similar cases during my min- 
istry at other places. But the meeting at Poplar Bluff 
and the record made there for good or bad is over 
now, and I am at home again. These visits home are 
the resting seasons in this busy life. It is so sweet to 
be in the bosom of one's own home, where there is 
sunshine ; and, on the other hand, it is only a feeling of 
divine call to this work that could ever make one will- 
ing to suffer such privations. We have but one short 
life to live in this world, which will soon be over, and 
for one to spend this away from those he loves is truly 
a great privation; and yet there are those who seem 
to think that it is mere playhouse business and that it 
is chosen for ease. But after extended experience on 
all these lines I feel prepared to tell the reader that 
there are many things connected with this kind of 
work that are by no means pleasant, and there is fre- 
quent occasion to desire that "rest that remains for the 
people of God." But I must close here and write of 
other work in future chapters. 



CHAPTER LI. 
The Work Multiplies. 

I was soon off for Prescott, Ark., where a good 
meeting was held with Rev. Horace Jewell. Brother 
Jewell was without doubt one of the most saintly men 
I ever worked with. Here too I enjoyed the asso- 
ciations of that princely minister of the gospel, Rev. 
George W. Hill, who was serving the district as pre- 
siding elder and whose home was at Prescott. The 
companionship of such men could not be otherwise 
than helpful. It was also at this meeting that I first 
became associated with Rev. Thomas O. Owen, who 
afterwards traveled with me in Missouri, Arkansas, 
and Tennessee as chorister, and whose companionship 
I found to be very helpful in a social way, to say noth- 
ing of the splendid work done by him in the service of 
song. Brother Owen is a graduate of Hendrix Col- 
lege, and a more manly man I have never met. The 
meeting at Prescott resulted in a good ingathering tc 
the Church, and friendships were formed here which 
have made life sweeter and better, and I was strength- 
ened for the work elsewhere. 

The next meeting was at Conway, Ark., where J. 
B. Stephenson had charge. Brother Stephenson is gen- 
tle as a lamb and yet courageous as a lion. My home 
while at Conway was with Sister Lincoln, whose large 
home was filled with select boarders and was always 
full of sunshine. One of the special features of this 

(253) 



254 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

meeting was the sunrise service, when the house of 
worship was usually well filled with early worshipers, 
who had come in the freshness of the new morning 
to thus give the first fruits of the new day to God in 
the form of prayer and praise. Another item of in- 
terest was the social meetings in the homes of the peo- 
ple after the evening services at the church were closed, 
and penitents were taken to these social meetings, 
where they were prayed with and instructed sometimes 
till a late hour at night. I remember in the home of 
Rev. J. H. Anderson, at such a time as this, one night 
at a late hour five young men professed conversion, 
and there was much rejoicing on the part of the work- 
ers as well as the young converts, and in this way the 
work was made quite successful here. 

When through at Conway and after a brief visit 
home again, taking my little boy, who had attended 
the meeting or spent the time at Conway with me, 
I was soon off to Magnolia, Ark., where I witnessed 
one of the most superb victories of the year. Rev. 
O. A. Goddard was in charge, and had planned well 
for the work. They had a beautiful new church to 
hold the meeting in, and the Lord led us at every 
step. In the early history of the meeting we insti- 
tuted a meeting for the men, to be held in the other 
houses of worship in the town during the afternoons, 
while the women would meet and engage in similar 
services at the Methodist church. It was but a day 
or two before the men had witnessed several conver- 
sions in their meetings, and the writer went to con- 
duct the service for the ladies one afternoon and found 
them ready and ripe for a great meeting. Early in 
this service, without any great effort on my part, the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 255 

Holy Spirit was poured out first on the choir or sing- 
ers and swept out over the congregation until I do not 
believe it would be much exaggeration to say that there 
were anywhere from fifty to seventy-five persons shout- 
ing at one time, and many of these represented the 
best element. of the town. There were several con- 
versions reported as one of the results of the service. 
One Catholic young lady was converted. Of course 
the work there took deeper hold on the town and sur- 
rounding country, and went on until one hundred and 
seventy souls had been numbered with the saved and 
more than a hundred added to the roll of membership 
in our Church. Among the many who had been seek- 
ers during this great meeting was the conductor on 
the branch road leading to this place and connecting 
the town with the Cotton Belt at McNeil Station. The 
distance is only five miles. This conductor, though 
very penitent, had not been converted up to the time 
of my leaving, but the work was to be continued under 
other leadership, and when my train had reached the 
station on the main line, where I would have some time 
to wait for the through train, this conductor came to 
me and said he wanted to talk with me. He said he 
wanted help, and that he did not want the meeting to 
close and leave him in this unsaved condition. Upon 
this we went into one of the coaches of his train alone, 
and I began to try to instruct him in the plan of sal- 
vation, giving him several passages on faith and sal- 
vation through faith; and when I had reached a cer- 
tain point and was stressing a passage from the Word 
of God, the man said : "I see it. It is as plain as fall- 
ing ofT of a log." With this he was saved, and re- 
turned to his home and into the meeting that day to 



256 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

take part in the work and testify to God's power to 
save sinners. I feel now, however, that I should not 
close this record of the above meeting without re- 
lating a circumstance which transpired during its 
progress. Two brothers, Minor and Charlie Wallace, 
were among the most prominent young men of the 
town, and had both been wicked, but they were now 
among the penitents. Minor was a lawyer and quite 
promising, but had felt impressed that if ever con- 
verted he would have to preach, and had on this ac- 
count avoided religious influences ; but in this meeting, 
as above stated, he had been convicted of sin and was 
earnestly seeking pardon. He came to Sister Shar- 
man's, where I was stopping, came into my room up- 
stairs to have me give him what instructions I could 
as to how to be saved, and while we were together 
he professed faith in Christ and became quite efficient 
as a worker in the meeting. His brother Charlie, 
however, had not yet been saved and became discour- 
aged, seeing others were being saved, and so he came 
to the early meeting one morning and stood up and 
declared himself lost, saying that there was no salvation 
for him ; that others might be saved, but he never ; and 
stated furthermore that he would never be in another 
religious service and would never enter another church 
house. With this he turned toward the door, saying, 
"Good-by to everybody, " and passed out. Several per- 
sons ejaculated: "Come back, Charlie. Don't do that." 
But on he went. I felt sure, however, that he would 
be back, as he was only in great distress because of 
sin, which caused him to do this ; and sure enough he 
was back at the next service and was saved, and was 
afterwards a whole team for good. He had simply 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 257 

reached a point of helpless desperation, and was the 
better prepared when he could see the way clearly to 
accept the Saviour. 

My work finished here, a run of three hundred miles 
brought me home again, where a rest was enjoyed and 
preparation made for more work. 

My next engagement was at Thayer, Mo., a thriving 
young town of two thousand population on the Kansas 
City, Memphis & Birmingham Railroad. Our Church 
is made up of some of the best element of the town. 
My home while there was with the family of Mr. 
Boyd, a successful merchant and banker of the place, 
and withal a loyal Methodist and devout Christian. 
My stay there was very pleasant. The meeting was 
good. Thirty odd were added to the Church. We 
held special services for the railroad men every day 
at noon at the roundhouse and street services at 5 
p.m. each day after the meeting got started well, and 
all these meetings bore fruit. It became necessary 
for me to preach a sermon on baptism ; and while 
I tried to preach the subject in the spirit of brotherly 
love, a woman got so mad she left the house, saying 
that she didn't want to go to heaven if I was going to 
be there ; but after she had reached the steps at the 
church door she went into a nervous fit and had to 
be taken home on a cot. Her husband was sent for, 
but he did not come. He sent word that she would 
get over that all right. She had to be taken home by 
others. This all did not affect the meeting, however, 
Another instance was that of a young husband who 
remained for the after service and took his place 
among the penitents ; but his young wife, who did not 
believe in our way of doing things, arose and, passing 
17 



258 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

down the aisle, beckoned to her husband, who went 
with her. On the following day his train (he was con- 
ductor on one of the local freights) ran over him and 
cut him to pieces, his body being scattered along for 
thirty steps. This young wife could take her husband 
out of our service because she didn't believe in our 
methods, but she couldn't stop the car wheels and she 
couldn't look on the mangled form of her dead hus- 
band. How foolishly some people can act ! Many 
things might be recorded concerning this meeting, but 
I must desist. 

The trip from Thayer to Memphis is over a very 
interesting route, or at least part of it, being along the 
course of Spring River, which is one of the most in- 
teresting streams the writer of these notes has ever 
seen. I was soon at home again and ready for a trip 
to Southern Mississippi. 



CHAPTER LII. 

Sanctification. 

It was about the time I was stationed at Jonesboro, 
Ark., that Dr. Carradine, through the press, gave his 
wonderful experience at Carondelet Street Church, 
New Orleans, as to how he sought and obtained the 
blessing of "entire sanctification." I read his state- 
ments with wonder. True, I had read in our stand- 
ards, in the course of study for young preachers, the 
chapters on sanctification apart from those on regen- 
eration, and always subsequent in arrangement to those 
on regeneration. I had also noted in our hymnal that 
in Section VII., under the general head of "Christian 
Experience," we had in arrangement, first, a large 
number of hymns on regeneration, and then as many 
as forty-four on "entire sanctification, or perfect love." 
Then I had noticed that when we received a member 
into the Church we always exhorted the membership 
to do all they could to "perfect such one in love." And 
last, but not least, I with others was asked when ad- 
mitted on trial into the traveling ministry if I expected 
to be made "perfect in love in this life," and if we 
were "groaning after it ;" but all this had rather a 
vague meaning in it to my mind, as I had an idea that 
it would take a lifetime to have this accomplished in 
us. I believed in the "growth theory;" and hence Dr. 
Carradine's experience had a strange sound to me. I 
was impressed very forcibly with the clearness of his 

(259) 



260 Trials and 1 riumphs of a Young Preacher. 

statement when he said, "The experience was one of 
fire/' but I could not understand all this. I heard it 
suggested by ministers too that Dr„ Carradine had sim- 
ply never been converted, and had just gotten a good 
case of religion; while others said he had been back- 
slidden and was simply reclaimed. I thought either 
of these things a possibility, and that he had simply 
mistaken this for sanctification, and thus I passed the 
question. Soon after this, however, I was associated 
with a minister of the gospel who claimed this ex- 
perience, and as I studied him there seemed much in 
his life worthy of emulation. His daily walk and 
godly conversation, as well as the joyfulness of his 
life, caused me to form new resolutions, even if they 
were not all kept or carried out. Still later, in the St. 
Louis Conference, I was thrown with that saintly 
minister, Rev. E. J. Rinkle, a German, and one whose 
life made me feel all the time like I wanted to reach 
out after something higher. I knew I had been con- 
verted years before that and had experienced many 
joyful seasons in the Christian life, but there seemed 
to be a richness about this brother's experience worthy 
to be desired. But these things passed with the days 
that brought them, except the recollections of them. 
Brother Rinkle had put into my hand some literature, 
which had an additional awakening influence on this 
subject. I thought I could begin to see something in 
this doctrine, which had been taught me in all our 
literature, intended for Christians in this life, and I 
thought it would be well to get the experience, if pos- 
sible, by "attainment" or "obtainment," or in what- 
ever way it might come, but that it was unwise and 
would appear egotistic and pharisaical to profess the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 261 

blessing. So the time passed until our District Con- 
ference at Lutesville, Mo. I was then serving a charge 
in the St. Louis Conference, when Dr. Carradine came 
down by invitation from our presiding elder to conduct 
the religious or devotional part of the Conference, 
which gave me an opportunity to see and hear this 
wonderful man, who was creating such a sensation 
in St. Louis and elsewhere, and my impression after 
seeing and hearing him was that "the half had never 
been told" of him and his work. His influence over 
men was simply amazing. Under his sermons minis- 
ters and people would press their way to the altar in 
great companies, seeking pardon for personal trans- 
gressions or the experience of sanctification, and many 
professed to have received these blessings. Among 
the number who professed sanctification were some of 
my personal friends in the ministry — men, too, in 
whom I had great confidence as Christians. Yet, with 
what instructions I had received on this subject, and 
all I had seen and heard, there was still a decided 
prejudice in my mind . against making a public pro- 
fession of this high and holy life. Hence I remained 
in the congregation and simply looked on while others 
were seeking the blessing. I felt that I had been 
saved already and had tried to live a clean life, and 
therefore it seemed that it would be a reflection on 
my past experience to go forward as a seeker again. 
I could not yet distinguish between pardon and purity. 
I had felt ofttimes that my experience was not alto- 
gether satisfactory ; there seemed to be something lack- 
ing, and yet I could never tell just where the trouble 
lay. As the work at this meeting continued, and I 
looked into the bright, happy faces of those who had 



262 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

sought and obtained the blessing, and realized that 
they must have something that I did not have, for the 
time at least, I finally went forward for prayer that 
I might obtain this "pearl of great price." As I 
knelt at the altar, amid the shouts of those who had 
obtained pardon for sins committed or who had claimed 
the blessing of sanctification, Dr. Carradine came to me 
himself and asked me if I wanted to be "sanctified." 
I told him I wanted all God had in store for me; that 
if he had anything better for me than I already had 
I wanted it. He then asked me if I felt that I was 
on the altar. I told him I thought I was. He then 
said: "Doesn't the Bible tell us the altar sanctifies the 
gift ?" I replied that it did. He then said that if I was 
certain I was on the altar I should unreservedly "reckon 
myself sanctified," believe the work was done, and get 
up and profess the blessing. I told him I did not have 
the blessing; I felt no change. He replied: "Never 
mind the feeling. Just believe the work is done and 
declare it, and the witness will finally be given." Just 
here I was reminded that this was the very thing I 
had often told penitents who were seeking pardon, and 
hence I agreed to do this at once, but when the test 
came for me to get up and testify I faltered. But the 
question was presented anew and decision pressed upon 
me until I arose and testified to the blessing, and the 
brethren were rejoicing over my testimony. Something, 
however, made me feel that I was acting the hypo-, 
crite. I felt no change, and, in fact, felt worse than 
ever for having professed what I felt in my heart I 
did not have. I seemed never to have felt more thor- 
oughly convinced that I was not sanctified than now, 
and was therefore relieved in a sense when the time 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 263 

had passed and the people ceased to mention the matter 
to me. While I had been made to believe in the doc- 
trine more thoroughly, still I was certain I did not yet 
have the experience. Soon after this, too, my faith 
was wonderfully shaken when I saw others who had 
professed the blessing, even in the above meeting, act 
very inconsistently and in a way I felt sure sanctified 
people could not and would not act. Still I saw in 
the lives of others what was beautiful and greatly to 
be desired, and so things continued with me for more 
than a year. Sometimes weeks would pass with but 
little thought on the subject on my part, and then again 
something would fall into my hands which would cre- 
ate a great hungering for this higher life, and my faith 
became stronger and yet stronger in the belief that 
there was such an experience as this to be obtained 
subsequent to regeneration, although I knew not how. 
This was about my state of mind on the subject when 
Rev. Clarence W. Perkins, of the North Mississippi 
Conference (whom I claimed as one of my boys, as 
he had committed himself to the work of the gospel 
ministry under the influence of my own ministry while 
on the Black Hawk Circuit), came to my home at 
Memphis to accompany me to South Mississippi, 
where I was to conduct a meeting at Hattiesburg 
for Rev. H. D. Howell ; and almost as soon as he 
had entered our house he said to me : "Brother Kilgore, 
what do you think about this second blessing idea of 
sanctification ?" I told him I believed it. He replied 
that he didn't ; that if he was born again he was born 
again, and didn't need anything more but to go on 
and keep growing as a Christian. I replied again that 
there might be something necessary, even after a 



264 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

"birth;" that there was, in fact, a cleansing process 
after a birth, and there might also be a baptism after 
birth, although I had a very vague idea of all these 
things yet. But the argument thus continued, as this 
was the topic of conversation most of the time we were 
together until we had reached Hattiesburg and were 
engaged in the work there. I found Brother Howell 
also very deeply prejudiced against this movement, and 
hence but little was said in his home about it, as I did 
not wish to stir up any strife on this subject in our 
meeting there. It must be remembered that I was not 
yet in the experience myself, but was in a restless 
state of mind on the subject. Finally one day we had 
all been invited into a home for dinner, when the sub- 
ject came up. Brother H. E. Partridge, presiding elder 
of the district, was present. He was in sympathy with 
the doctrine, but, like myself, was not in the experience. 
The debate was warm among us that day. Some were 
for and some against the doctrine as a second work of 
grace. When it was all over and we were returning 
to our room, I said to Brother Perkins : "Perkins, you 
know I do not claim the experience of sanctification." 
He said: "Yes, I know it." I told him I thought it 
wrong to fight the doctrine, however, unless one was 
certain he was right in doing so ; that he might 
be found to be fighting against God. He then said that 
he supposed it was wrong. I then suggested that as 
such men as Drs. Palmore, Cobb, Boswell, Carradine, 
and Bishop Key, with hundreds of others of the best 
of men and women, claimed to enjoy this experience 
there might be something in it ; that if a hundred good 
men and women should report the existence of a 
spring at a certain place, one who had never visited 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 265 

the place to see had no right to deny its existence — to 
all of which he agreed. All this suggested new lines of 
thought to my own mind on the subject and increased 
my desire to "know more of the doctrine" and made 
me to hunger and thirst the more for the experience; 
and with increased desire I awoke on the following 
morning, when the question came to me as to why I 
might not claim this blessing so much desired, and 
with this thought I moved out into the new day. If 
there was anything unclean in my life or willfully wick- 
ed, I was not conscious of it. I had even parted com- 
pany with the tobacco habit some time before this, and 
hence had no battle to fight on this line; and as I now 
fully accepted the doctrine and greatly desired the ex- 
perience, I was not able to see why I might not "go up 
at once and possess the land." I read in Mark xi. 
24, where our Saviour said: "What things soever ye 
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and 
ye shall have them." With this promise in my mind 
I approached the morning service in the sanctuary ; and 
without any intention of stressing this particular doc- 
trine in the public service or ever having seen the 
doctrine in the lesson chosen, I announced the lesson 
concerning the blind man at Bethsaida for the morn- 
ing hour. As I proceeded to explain the lesson I 
thought I saw in it, when Christ gave the second touch 
in restoring perfect sight, the suggestion at least of 
this very thing I had been thinking about so much ; and 
grasping the thought, I then and there claimed the 
blessing of perfect love, and my soul w r as filled and 
flooded with a sweet rest and peace I had never known 
before. I had often received great blessings, but they 
were never satisfying, always left me hungering for 



266 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

more. It seemed that I was always drinking and yet 
ever dry; but this blessing obtained through faith on 
this memorable morning, unlike all these other bless- 
ings mentioned, gave me a divine fullness which was 
abiding, and this brought with it a flood of light on 
various passages of Scripture I had never seen before. 
Indeed, the Bible seemed a new book. There was also 
great joy in my soul, for the kingdom of God is not' 
only "righteousness and peace, but joy in the Holy 
Ghost." I did not conclude the sermon that day in 
the way I had intended, but came down at once and 
made a proposition to the Church. I never could tell 
just how I left the pulpit, but found myself down in 
the altar rejoicing and exhorting the Church. Many 
came forward and shook hands with me, and Brother 
Perkins threw his arms around me, saying: "There is 
something in this." And he returned to his home 
teaching this glorious doctrine. The meeting at Hat- 
tiesburg was attended with other good results. When 
I began the work Brother Howell said that he had a 
Church there with a membership of two hundred and 
twenty, but that if twenty of them claimed to be in the 
enjoyment of religion he was not informed of it, and 
he seemed to deplore the condition of things very much 
indeed; but when the meeting was over many were 
rejoicing in the experience of salvation, and some were 
hungering and thirsting for the higher life. From the 
beginning of the work here there was a little sanctified 
Baptist ticket agent, whose shining face and clear tes- 
timonies had helped us much and who now seemed 
very happy in the results of the work done. 

My return trip home was via New Orleans, where 
I spent a day pleasantly taking in the city, and then 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 26"/ 

with an all-night run over the Illinois Central Rail- 
road I was at home again. More will be written as 
to the above experience and its results in future chap- 
ters as things develop. Suffice it to say here that, like 
things in the vegetable kingdom, this experience must 
be cultivated in order to grow. 



CHAPTER LIII. 

Work in Tennessee. 

The time was now up for our meeting at Rives, 
Tenn., as arranged for by Frank Dickey, of Chico,Tex., 
six months ago. It will be remembered that he gave 
me money to pay my railroad fare, feeling impressed, 
as he said he did, that if I could go to Rives and 
hold a meeting his aged father, who had been very 
wicked, would be converted. Rev. Thomas O. Owen, 
a graduate of Hendrix College, had been engaged to 
lead in the service of song, and we were soon on the 
ground for the conflict. Rives is a small town at the 
crossing of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the New- 
port News and Mississippi Valley Railroad, and is 
made up of the very best class of people. Our stay 
while there was at the charming home of Mr. Gard- 
ner, and never were two preachers more hospitably en- 
tertained than were Brother Owen and myself at this 
place ; nor did a home ever seem more completely filled 
with sunshine than this one. There is nothing more 
beautiful this side of heaven or more to be desired than 
a well-regulated Christian home, nor is anything more 
to be dreaded than one where there is constant conten- 
tion and evident hate. It has been my lot to be brought 
in contact with both kinds. This Tennessee home was 
preeminently one of the kind first mentioned; there- 
fore to say our stay here was made pleasant would be 
unnecessary. There are some homes where one of 
(268) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 269 

God's servants is welcomed always, while there are 
others where it seems to be a great tax to entertain one 
at all, and when done must be reckoned as among the 
charities bestowed and talked of in this light for many 
months to follow. 

The meeting at Rives moved off encouragingly from 
the beginning, and by the middle of the first week the 
interest was very good. It was at about this stage of 
the meeting that I met Mr. Dickey (the old gentleman) 
on the street, and was introduced to him. He had not 
attended our services any yet, nor had he ever received 
the slightest intimation of what had happened in Texas 
concerning him or the design of our mission there, as 
arranged by his son ; but special prayers had been of- 
fered for him daily for six months at least. After 
some little conversation with him and when we were 
ready to part, I invited him out to the meeting; but he 
did not promise me to come, and treated the matter 
rather gruffly. However, on the following day he was 
out at the service with his wife. By this time the inter- 
est was fine, and at the close of the sermon and while 
penitents were being invited I walked down the aisle 
and into the pew where Mr. Dickey was seated, and 
said to him : "Mr. Dickey, six months ago. six hundred 
miles from here, your son Frank gave me money to 
pay my railroad fare to Rives and return, stating that 
he had an aged father here unsaved, and that he ex- 
pected to pray for you every day from that time until 
this meeting is over, that you may be saved." With 
this I turned and walked back to the altar. I did not 
give him time to make any reply, but left him to think 
about what had been said, the message I had brought 
to him. By the time I had reached the altar and turned 



270 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

to face the audience again he was just making his es- 
cape from the door. After the congregation had been 
dismissed, some one remarked to me that he was afraid 
"old man Dickey would never come back again," to 
which I replied: "Yes, he will." I felt sure that the 
Lord was directing this whole movement, and that I 
had simply been guided in what I had just done by the 
Holy Spirit ; hence it must bear fruit. 

Sure enough, next day our old friend was back ; and 
when an opportunity was given for penitents to come 
forward for prayers, I saw Mr. Dickey start down the 
aisle toward the altar, and was greatly rejoiced at the 
thought that he was coming as a seeker; but, to my 
great and agreeable surprise, when he had reached the 
front he began to shake hands with the Christian peo- 
ple and to rejoice — already converted. As a matter of 
course there was great rejoicing among the Christian 
people over this great victory. Mr. Dickey testified 
that day that on the preceding day when I ap- 
proached him as I did he was so shocked on hear- 
ing what his son in Texas had done that he got up 
and left the house and walked home, a distance of a 
half mile, through a wooded part of the suburbs, hav- 
ing forgotten for the time that he had left his wife 
and horse and buggy at the church until he had 
reached the wood pile at his own gate, and that he 
could not dismiss the thing at all from his mind until 
he had made a surrender of himself to Christ. I had 
promised to dine at his home on that very day, and as 
we were all walking together on the way to his house 
he stopped on the way and said : "I'll tell you, gentle- 
men, where this thing started. Six months ago, six 
hundred miles from here, my son Frank put it in mo- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 271 

tion, and to my own astonishment I have to-day united 
with the Church." He had given his name for mem- 
bership in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
When we had reached his house and his conversion 
had been made known to his wife, who had remained 
at home to prepare dinner, there was another time of 
rejoicing. In the meantime some friend had gone to 
the telegraph office and wired Brother Frank Dickey 
that his father was saved and had joined the Church. 
I had told the congregation what Brother Frank had 
done, and hence the message was sent. John Dickey, 
the brother referred to in a former chapter, was also 
converted and united with the Church with his father. 
It will be easy to imagine what the effect of such a 
thing as the above would be on a community. The 
interest in the meeting was, of course, very much in- 
creased, and its influence extended. 

About this time another striking incident occurred. 
I had been led to feel an interest in Mr. Jim Bush, 
son of Dr. Bush, of that place; so at the morning 
service one day I made mention of the interest I felt 
in the young man, asked the Christian people to 
join me in prayer for him, and suggested that we con- 
tinue our prayers until he was saved or dead, thinking 
in this way to get the burden on the hearts of the 
people more perfectly. At this Sister Lanier, our pas- 
tor's wife, said: "Why can't we pray that he 
may be saved to-day?" My faith could not grasp 
this suggestion fully, although I was anxious to see it 
accomplished. But Brother McClesky, pastor of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, then spoke out, say- 
ing to Sister Lanier, "I'll join you in this;" and thus 
they covenanted together to pray that our friend Jim 



2/ r 2 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Bush might be saved that day. When I remembered 
the Saviour's promise in Matthew xviii. 19, where he 
said, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall 
agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, 
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heav- 
en," my faith was inspired to believe this could be done, 
and I joined them in the prayer. On my way to our 
dining place that day I met Mr. Bush and told him 
we were praying for him. I remembered how when 
Jesus prayed for his friend he went and told him about 
it, and I thought this example entirely worthy of emu- 
lation on the part of those who would follow "in his 
steps." He received my words kindly and seemed to 
greatly appreciate the interest thus manifested in him, 
and sure enough that night he was saved and joined 
the Methodist Church. Sister Lanier and "Uncle Joe" 
McClesky (that was what they called the Cumberland 
Presbyterian preacher) were comforted in witness- 
ing the direct answer to their prayers in fulfillment of 
Christ's promise. 

This meeting became one of the greatest of the sea- 
son, and reached into the country several miles around 
until a large number had been brought into the king- 
dom. Brother Owen had done us fine work in leading 
the choir, and as a young man himself had wielded a 
fine influence over the young men of the community 
where the meeting was being held. The Churches of 
the town were all greatly built up, and the spirit of 
"brotherly love" prevailed. Arrangements were made 
with Brother Lanier for another meeting in his charge 
at Troy, Tenn. I was then off for home to rest a few 
days before filling an engagement with Rev. Rufus 
C. Morehead at Searcy, Ark. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 273 

Searcy is a beautiful town of four thousand inhabit- 
ants, and is an educational center, being the seat of 
Galloway College for Girls and Searcy College for 
Boys, as well as a Presbyterian Institute and fine pub- 
lic schools. It is also a health resort, as there are some 
fine mineral springs in the heart of the town. Our 
meeting there started off well. The music was excel- 
lent, being led by Brother Owen and a well-organized 
choir. The pastor himself was a fine singer. We in- 
stituted an afternoon service for young ladies where 
the girls who were already in the Church could 
be trained as workers, and before the meeting had 
closed I saw twenty-two of these same young ladies 
kneel together and lead in short voluntary prayers in 
the presence of a large congregation. Rev. Horace 
Jewell was present, and afterwards stated that he never 
expected to live to witness a prettier sight in this 
world than this was, according to his way of think- 
ing. 

A goodly number were added to the Church during 
the meeting, and we seemed to be on the borders 
of a great work, as some of the leading men of the 
town had been reached and were at the altar as peni- 
tents, when the meeting had to close. I had been ap- 
pointed by Bishop Duncan to serve on a committee of 
investigation touching the character of a member of 
the St. Louis Conference, and had to go to that city, 
where the investigation was held in Centenary Church, 
which investigation occupied three days. The other 
brethren, Morehead and Owen, had engagements else- 
where ; so the work at Searcy had to be suspended, 
but not before great good had been accomplished. 

It was on Sundav morning at this meeting that I 
18 



274 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

preached a sermon touching the doctrine of Christian 
perfection, the first time I had tried to preach a ser- 
mon on this special line since my experience at Hatties- 
burg, Miss., already recorded in a former chapter of 
this volume, and God gave his approval of the sermon 
by blessing it in a very special way. At the close of 
the sermon Rev. G. A. Dannelly, an aged and honored 
member of the White River Conference, arose and said 
he thanked God publicly that he had received a bless- 
ing that day he had been seeking for more than forty 
years; he said the people could call it "sanctification" 
if they chose to do so, that he was not particular as to 
the name they might give it, but he was sure he had 
the blessing. This probably ought to have encouraged 
me to be more outspoken on this great doctrine; but 
I had resolved to simply go on and try to live the 
life and enjoy the experience in a quiet way, not yet 
realizing that if the great blessing were not used and 
testified to it would, like the grace of salvation itself, 
finally wither and become entirely fruitless. Failing 
to preach the doctrine and testify to the experience, I, 
as a natural sequence, failed to accumulate further 
knowledge on this line or grow in the experience, and 
hence soon cowered in the presence of opposition and 
virtually denied the whole thing, and at once lost the 
joy, lost the experience, and went for months and 
months with the same spirit of hungering and thirst- 
ing I had formerly had — and that, too, after having en- 
joyed this sweet peace in an unbroken chain during 
several weeks. I knew now what it was to be in the 
enjoyment of this sweet experience of perfect love, 
and had been in possession of this long enough to real- 
ize that it could be kept if used, but had suffered the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 275 

old enemy to swindle me out of this, and was thereby 
put at a disadvantage and greatly hindered in my work, 
having in a measure at least lost the power. One 
should profit by such experience and avoid similar mis- 
takes ever afterwards ; but the old enemy is ever look- 
ing for an opportunity to trip us again. May the 
Lord help us to watch unto prayer, that we may have 
courage to do the right thing always ! 

After this I went to Fordyce, Ark., where a fine 
meeting was started; but I was called home to the 
bedside of a sick child. However, as the child was soon 
all right, I went on to Dresden, Tenn., to fill my next 
engagement; while our pastor at Fordyce continued his 
meeting and scored a great victory for Christ. 

The meeting at Dresden gave good promise at times, 
but the circuit court convened just as we had gotten 
the work well in hand, with some exciting criminal 
cases, thus detracting from the interest of our work; 
then a circus came and brought to the town a multi- 
tude of people who were not influenced by the meet- 
ing. Thus things became demoralized, and the meet- 
ing closed without accomplishing the results we had 
desired. Still some good was done. 

I next went to Troy to fill the engagement made 
with Brother Lanier. Brother Owen had not been 
with me since the close of the work at Searcy, and was 
not with me any more this year. But we had a gra- 
cious meeting at Troy. Twenty-five united with our 
Church, which was very weak up to this time. A 
shadow was thrown over the community in the midst 
of the meeting by the untimely death of Mr. Comp- 
ton. A home had been provided for me at Mr. 
Compton's, which was a delightful place to stay, 



276 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

as they had a very nice home. There were only the 
two old people; hence it was quiet and a good 
place for rest and study. But Mr. Compton had suf- 
fered some reverses in his time. In the first place, he 
had been in a serious railroad wreck, and was badly 
crippled. Then he had lost his only son by death 
when he was just grown; and finally he had lost all he 
had in a commercial failure. So he was quite de- 
spondent, and had already acted in a way to give his 
friends some uneasiness. One morning after appear- 
ing really cheerful at the breakfast table, where we 
had remained some time and chatted after eating, he 
went to town, took a bath, got shaved, and purchased 
some potatoes, instructing the man who would deliver 
them at his house to put them in the wood house. 
Then he went home while his wife was at church, 
dressed in the suit he had evidently provided for the 
long journey, went into the wood house, and hanged 
himself. When the man who went to deliver the 
potatoes opened the wood house door, there was 
Mr. Compton dangling to the rope dead. The sad 
news soon reached every part of the town. I was 
called on to preach his funeral, which I did to a large 
concourse of people. Of course I could say nothing 
either to benefit the dead or comfort the living, but 
could only speak words of warning to others who were 
unsaved. The remains were taken to some place in 
the East for interment, and I was given another home 
for the remainder of the meeting. 

As already recorded, the meeting itself resulted well, 
and at its close Brother Lanier stated that some one 
had asked him when the work was being announced 
what he wanted with a meeting there, as we had but 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 277 

little to build to, and he had replied that he wanted it 
for himself if no one else could be benefited. But after 
twenty-five names had been added to the roll of mem- 
bership and the Church greatly revived, he put his 
arm around my shoulder as he wept and thanked God 
for the work of grace and expressed a hope that we 
would meet again here ; but if not here, then we must 
meet in heaven. Just two weeks from that time I had 
a letter from his sweet daughter, stating that her fa- 
ther had gone to his home in heaven. I hope so to fin- 
ish my life here as to meet him there. 

The meeting over, after a brief rest again, I was 
in another meeting at Mammoth Springs, Ark., with 
Rev. S. L. Cochran. This was the fourth time I had 
assisted Brother Cochran in a revival, and at this last 
one the Lord gave us a victory, as he had done at the 
other times and places. Here fully a hundred professed 
conversion and sixty odd joined the Methodist Church. 
It was simply glorious ! It was at this place that I first 
saw a great "fishery," and it is really interesting to 
see how this business is managed. This was the last 
meeting before Conference, except a brief one at Corn- 
ing, Ark., where the people had been without a pastor 
for some time and wanted some preaching done to get 
them in readiness for the new year. Twelve or fif- 
teen persons were added to our Church, however, dur- 
ing the few days I was there, and I hope other good 
was accomplished. 

The St. Louis Conference held its session at West 
Plains, Mo., and I transferred back to the White River 
Conference. 



CHAPTER LIV. 

Conference at Jonesboro. 

As has already been noted, I transferred back to 
the White River Conference. It may doubtless be re- 
membered that I had sustained a supernumerary rela- 
tion to the St. Louis Conference during the past year ; 
but Brothers Cochran, Smith, Jernigan, and others 
had suggested to me that if I would transfer back to 
the White River Conference they would try to get 
the Conference Sunday school agency for me, which 
would put me in the field and at the same time give 
me connection with the Conference under appointment. 
This would have pleased me very much. But the 
first day of the session of the Conference, when the 
first name was called, the matter was decided in my 
own mind that I could not be given this place, as 
Brother Dannelly, an honored member of the body, who 
had held this place during the preceding year, ex- 
pressed a desire in open Conference to be reappointed 
to that work if agreeable to the Bishop and his ad- 
visers. I would not if I could have put myself in 
the way of this dear good man, whom I already loved 
as a father, and hence decided at once that my name 
should not go before the Cabinet for this place; and 
as there seemed to be nothing else open that would 
turn me loose in the field, I decided then and there to 
ask the Conference for a location, and turned my trans- 
fer paper over to a presiding elder with this instruc- 

(278) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 279 

tion. I listened for my name to be called, when a loca- 
tion would be asked for me by the elder. But time 
passed on until Friday afternoon, when, just as I had 
gotten a seat in the church to hear a sermon by Rev. 
J. R. Moore, of the Little Rock Conference, some one 
touched me and said that the Bishop had sent for me 
and that a brother was waiting at the door for me. 
When I reached the door, I found one of the elders, 
Rev. F. A. Jeffett, waiting, who informed me that 
Bishop Keener wanted to see me in his own room, and 
that he didn't think the Bishop was going to give me 
a local relation, to which I replied: "O yes; I think 
he will when he understands me." But when I found 
the Bishop and his Cabinet in session I told the Bishop 
I preferred to see him privately, as I felt that I could 
make him understand me better. With this we went 
into his private apartments, and I told him the whole 
case — that my wife was an invalid and did not feel able 
to take the responsibilities of a pastor's wife, that we 
had obligations to meet which I thought best to try to 
meet otherwise than in the regular work, and therefore 
I had asked to be located. The Bishop then said : "Well, 
what do you expect to do?" I told him I thought I 
could help the brethren in their revival work as far as 
able, when he replied: "Ah, I thought so! I am not 
going to give you a location. This running about must 
be stopped. I'll give you an appointment, and a good 
one, but I'll not give you a location." I confess that 
I was so surprised and shocked at the position he had 
taken that I hardly knew what reply to make to this, 
but finally told him I thought a man could get out as 
he had come in if there were no charges against him 
and his case was clear. But he said again that he 



280 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

would not give me a location, and asked me where I 
lived. I told him at Memphis. He then said he could 
give me a charge near Memphis. I had already told 
him that if I must take an appointment he would have 
to give me one that would support me, as I had obliga- 
tions to meet and an afflicted family to support, and 
he had assured me that he would do this. After I had 
left his room I remembered what he had said about 
giving me an appointment near Memphis ; and knowing 
the territory as well as I did, I knew there was nothing 
near Memphis that could possibly give a support to 
my family, as there was but one charge near Memphis, 
and this had no home for the preacher, no parsonage, 
and paid only a very small salary, about sufficient for 
a young man without a family. So I made a second 
visit to the Bishop's room to tell him that we did not 
have to remain in Memphis, that we had no property 
there but were simply renting, that rents were high, 
and that we could go anywhere in the Conference we 
might be appointed. He said he was glad I told him 
this, that it was important; and with this I left him. 
I was not posted as to the prerogative of a Bishop in 
the matter of granting or withholding a location; but 
when I examined the law in the case, I found that the 
Bishop's only part in the matter is to take the vote 
of the Conference, and that a preacher is disposed of 
in the same way he has been received into the travel- 
ing connection — by vote of the Conference. So I was 
advised by some to press my case and ask for location 
anyhow if I still wanted it; while others among my 
best friends advised me to let the Bishop appoint me, 
saying that arrangements could be made after the ses- 
sion to secure some help on the appointed charge, and 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 281 

I could go ahead and do a good deal of outside work 
anyway if I chose to do so. This I decided to do. 
My presiding elder had gone to the Bishop in the 
meantime and asked him what would be done in case 
I should persist in asking for a location, and his reply 
was that he would not give me a certificate of location, 
and would make me appeal to the General Conference 
against his ruling; and as I did not wish to be made 
so conspicuous before the whole Church, I decided 
as above indicated. Whether I made a mistake at this 
point or not will remain for eternity to reveal. My 
own judgment, however, is that things took the right 
turn, as the results seem to indicate. I had about 
made up my mind, however, to get up and ask the 
location anyway on Monday morning, let the Confer- 
ence vote on it, and take the consequences, whatever 
they might be; but to my surprise the Bishop wound 
up the work and read out the appointments on Sunday 
night, and read my name out to the Marion Circuit, 
which was the charge already mentioned as being near 
Memphis — altogether in the bottom in the overflowed 
district, with not a decent house of worship on it, with- 
out a parsonage, with a very small salary, and no hope 
of much development if any that year, as there had 
been a terrible failure in crops in that section the pre- 
ceding year. I had been to Marion and held a meeting 
for Brother T. B. Williamson the year before, and 
hence knew the people and loved them ; but I knew they 
could not support my family under the circumstances, 
and was therefore at a great loss to know what to do. 
I wanted to be a loyal son of Methodism, as I had 
always tried to be. I loved my Church and her min- 
istry, had always loved to honor our chief pastors, 



282 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

and had felt specially drawn to Bishop Keener, as I 
had always felt that he was my personal friend, and did 
not now believe that there was any design in all this 
to afflict me personally; hence I was at a loss to 
know how to take this and what to do. The future 
will fully explain the Bishop's action in the matter, and 
that he did not intend to inflict any punishment on me 
for any personal reasons; but all this did not relieve 
the situation now. 

This session of the Conference had been held, 
as may be remembered, in one of my former 
pastoral charges (Jonesboro), where I had a great 
number of personal friends. Many of them seemed 
very indignant at the way they felt that I had been 
treated, and the almost universal advice to me was not 
to accept the charge given me, but simply go on and 
work as I had planned to do; and this advice came 
from many of the preachers as well as the people. The 
Bishop had said in his remarks before reading out the 
appointments : "Now, if any brother is not pleased 
with his appointment let him report to me, and I will 
get me another man for the work and attend to his 
case at the next Conference. If the preacher fails to 
do this, he will be expected to serve the charge to which 
he has been appointed." So with all this and with the 
advice of friends, I had decided by morning to sur- 
render the charge, and let the Bishop get him another 
man, as he had suggested. So I found my presiding 
elder early next morning and so informed him, and 
asked him to bear the message to the Bishop. In the 
meantime, when it was known that I was disturbed 
about my appointment, an exchange had been offered 
to the Bishop for me, offering the Boydsville Circuit 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 283 

for Marion, which was but little if any better. When 
the elder informed the Bishop of my decision, he in- 
quired for me again until he found me, and asked me 
if it was true that I was not going to serve the work to 
which I had been appointed. I told him I didn't see 
how I could. He then asked me if I was not going to 
accept either of the appointments offered, referring to 
the exchange suggested. I again replied that I did not 
see how I could, as there was not a support in either 
of them, and that I had told him fully of my financial 
condition as well as the condition of my family before 
he appointed me, and that I could not in justice to my- 
self or my family or the cause serve where there was 
not a support, to which he replied: "All right, I will 
get another man for the work and attend to your case 
at the next Conference." And with this we parted. 
The presiding elder saw him afterwards, and asked 
him what provision he was going to make for Marion 
Circuit. He replied that he was not going to make 
any; that I would be all right after I had time to re- 
flect a little and would go and serve the charge. So 
as to be on the safe side, as I knew there would be 
a future to all this, I went to the charge and called 
a meeting of the official board, had them make the as- 
sessment, and inquired otherwise into the condition of 
the charge. When I had gotten all these things to- 
gether, I sat down and wrote Bishop Keener a long 
letter, giving him all the particulars, and asked him to 
transfer me to any other Conference in the Church if 
he chose to do so and could give me a work that would 
support me. I waited ten days for an answer, but it 
did not come. I then made another visit to Jonesboro, 
talked with the presiding elder, Rev. Frank Ritter, and 



284 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

left the charge in his hands. He soon secured a young 
man without a family to take the work, and I pro- 
ceeded to make engagements with the brethren in their 
meetings where there were open doors, and take what 
might be in store for me at the next session of the 
Conference. I had been assured, however, by my pre- 
siding elder that if I would state my case fully at the 
Conference they would vote me a location if I should 
still desire it or give me a work if I should prefer that ; 
and so the case passed with the full sympathy of my 
friends at Jonesboro and elsewhere. 

Many things here now hard to be understood will 
be made plain in connection with the record of the next 
Annual Conference. My first meeting following the 
above decision was in the city of St. Louis, and its 
results will be recorded in the next chapter, as well as 
the results of other meetings and work. I continued 
to reside in Memphis for another year, where I could 
have easy access to all points as well as other conven- 
iences. 



CHAPTER LV. 

St. Louis and Elsewhere. 

When the question was all settled as to my appoint- 
ment from the Jonesboro Conference, I arranged at 
once to go to St.. Louis in response to an invitation 
from Dr. C. L. Smith to conduct a meeting for him 
in his charge at St. Paul Church, which lasted four 
weeks. Brother Owen was with me again as chorister, 
and did noble work. Dr. Smith had planned well for 
his meeting, and hence there were signs of success 
from the beginning; but none of us had scarcely imag- 
ined that the victory would even approximate what it 
did. Two hundred and sixty-six were converted at 
the altar — and that, too, in connection with the main 
body of the services, as it seemed never to be neces- 
sary to announce an after service for inquirers. Near- 
ly all the converts joined the Methodist Church before 
the meeting had closed. It was simply glorious ! Ev- 
erything seemed to conspire to help us. 

There were three other revival meetings in session 
in the city at the same time : Dr. Hammond, the 
"children's evangelist," was there conducting a series 
of services in the ''People's Church." down in the city; 
while Murton Smith, from Chicago, was holding forth 
at the Second Presbyterian Church, and Miss Sallie 
Smith, the "railroad evangelist," was working success- 
fully among the railroad people. The great "dailies" 
took up the work and gave us extended reports every 

(28s) 



286 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

morning through their columns, which greatly aided 
in the good work. 

As ours was the only Methodist meeting in prog- 
ress in the city just at this time, we were favored with 
frequent visits by Christian workers from different 
parts of the city representing other congregations, and 
thus it seemed that Providence was in our favor all the 
way through. Weekly reports of the great work were 
also sent to the preachers' meeting on Monday morn- 
ings; and in this way, as well as by special notice, the 
work was reported through the St. Louis Christian 
Advocate. Thus the meeting got an abundance of 
advertising, which was all helpful in scoring this great 
victory for Christ and his cause. The writer has been 
associated with hundreds of pastors, but I am absolute- 
ly certain that Dr. Smith is the most systematic and 
at the same time successful pastor I have ever known. 
Many things could be written of him and his work. 
The above meeting was historic in every sense of the 
word, and it opened a large number of doors to us in 
other places for revival work. 

We accepted an invitation to Commerce, Mo., when 
the above work had ended, and went direct from St. 
Louis to this place. Plans had been made by the pas- 
tor of the M. E. Church of East St. Louis, 111., for us 
to go there from Dr. Smith's church; but we had al- 
ready engaged to go to Commerce, and hence could 
not accept this invitation, as we would have been glad 
to have done, in order that we might have in this way 
contributed a small share at least in cultivating an 
extended fraternity between the two great wings of 
our Methodism. We could not break our engagement, 
however, and therefore went on to Commerce, where 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 287 

there was another decided victory in store for us. 
Commerce is a "river town," and, like all other towns 
along the river, was considered tough, and I suppose 
was so, judging from the large number of grown peo- 
ple and even old people we found out of the Church 
there. But we went to work with a will, and success 
soon crowned our efforts. Brother Owen was still 
with me, and his influence among the young people 
contributed in a large degree to the success of our 
meetings at different places, as he was such a model 
young man as well as Christian. Our home at Com- 
merce was again very pleasant. The homes of the 
people of the town were thrown open to us in general, 
and the hospitality was large. Rev. E. J. Rinkle, the 
sanctified German preacher, was in charge of our 
Church, and had a fine hold on his people. We adopted 
the cottage prayer meeting plan at this place ; but these 
afternoon services soon assumed such proportions that 
we were compelled to move them to the church in or- 
der to find sufficient room for the large numbers who 
wanted to attend, and we then had the three full serv- 
ices at the church daily. The fact of having to move 
this additional service to the church itself gave charac- 
ter to the meeting, and created increased interest until 
the town was moved and people at different ages were 
being saved. 

A thing transpired here, however, which probably 
did more to create an early interest in the meeting 
than any other one thing. I preached a sermon on 
''Brotherly Love;" and while there were but compara- 
tively few out to hear me, the manager of the River 
Warehouse, who was quite prominent in the town, and 
who was himself a sinner — that is, he was not con- 



288 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

nected with any Church and had never made any pre- 
tensions to religion — was among the number present 
that day, and he seemed so impressed with the sermon 
that he sent me word if I would repeat it he would 
do what he could to get as many of the citizens of the 
town out to hear me as possible. Of course I saw 
that this would be a good advertisement for our meet- 
ing as well as the good that might be accomplished di- 
rectly by the sermon, and I consented to do this and so 
announced. When the hour came, the house was 
crowded to overflowing. The Lord gave me great 
freedom in the delivery of the message, and a gracious 
good service followed, after which we had the atten- 
tion of the town drawn to the meeting, and the work 
increased. 

About this time Judge Barentine, who had served as 
circuit judge in Southeast Missouri a number of years, 
and who had been a noted skeptic and sinner, arose 
in a testimony meeting one morning and asked the 
privilege to talk. As he had made himself noted by 
his opposition to all religious sentiment, there were 
mingled feelings of curiosity and fear and evident sus- 
pense to know just what the old sinner would have to 
say in a religious meeting. His wife was a Christian 
woman, but had been greatly hindered in her religious 
experience by the life he had lived. He began his 
talk by saying that he had often seen a span of fine 
horses, brushed and sleek, and had admired them 
more than he could admire a beautiful steam en- 
gine or a grand steamer at sea ; but he had also seen, 
on the other hand, a balky team, where one horse 
would try to pull the whole load, while the other would 
hold back, thus causing the faithful one to fail; and 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young PrcacJier. 289 

he now drew from this a lesson. He said that he had 
been the balky horse, and while his wife had tried 
to be a Christian he had hindered her all he could and 
made it as hard for her as possible ; but that from then 
on, by the help of God, he would not be the balky 
horse any longer, but intended to pull side by side with 
his Christian wife the remainder of the way. With this 
there was a rush to him on the part of Christians from 
different parts of the congregation, who came to shake 
his hand, and thus encourage him in this resolution as 
well as to rejoice over his return to God. They gave 
him a regular ovation. One could not help being re- 
minded of the lesson of the returning prodigal as re- 
corded in the New Testament. 

It is not difficult to see that with such influences at 
work as those recorded above our meeting at Commerce 
grew to be great, so that many were saved and added 
to the Church. Whole families came into the Church 
together. 

Our next meeting was at Batesville, Ark. About 
this time, however, Brother Owen was appointed to a 
pastoral charge to fill a place made vacant by the death 
of a minister, and our associations in the work were 
thus brought to an end. 

I went to Batesville, where Rev. J. M. Hawley had 
charge. Brother Hawley was another graduate from 
Hendrix College, and a lovable character. The people 
of Batesville treated me very kindly in every sense of 
the word, and some strong friendships were formed 
which will last, I hope, while eternity endures. My 
home while there was one of the most pleasant, 
and the meeting was good all the way. The ingath- 
ering was probably not so large as at some other places ; 
TO 



290 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

still about forty joined the Church, and the meeting 
was otherwise quite successful. 

It was on the second Sabbath of the meeting that 
a lady left her husband at home and came to the morn- 
ing service. She tried to persuade him to come with 
her, but he would not, and didn't want her to come; 
but she came on anyway, leaving him reading a news- 
paper. When she returned, to her great surprise, she 
found him on his knees praying. He seemed greatly 
distressed on account of his condition ; said he felt that 
he was lost; and as his troubles seemed to increase 
and he could not be comforted, the wife sent across 
the street for a neighbor who had already been con- 
verted during the meeting, thinking he could probably 
help her husband. We were holding three services 
daily ; but that morning during the eleven o'clock hour 
the weather was so threatening that it looked as though 
we might be defeated in the afternoon, and to prevent 
this as much as possible I announced that we would 
hold services that afternoon, weather or no weather, 
if there was nothing worse on hand, unless there should 
be a cyclone, which of course I did not think was 
probable. When the hour for service came, there was 
an electric storm on, with a great rain; it was simply 
pouring down. But my word was out to hold service 
without regard to the weather, and if I did not go 
there would be a falsehood out; so I put on my 
wraps and rubbers, took my umbrella, and started 
out through the drenching rain. The distance was at 
least a quarter of a mile, and I could imagine that the 
people in the homes along the way would put me down 
as a fanatic or fool ; but I must go, even if they did. 
When I reached the church I found a half dozen or 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 291 

more boys who had turned in out of the rain, and they 
looked at one another and smiled as I entered the 
church and said: "Well, boys, we are here." I had 
hardly relieved myself of my extra wraps before the 
two gentlemen referred to above, the man so penitent 
and his converted neighbor, entered the door of the 
church y having also come through the rain. The con- 
vert had suggested to his friend that they come to the 
church and get the preacher to help him, when he re- 
plied that it was raining so hard there would be no 
service; but the young Christian said: "Yes; the 
preacher has announced that there will be service, 
'weather or no weather,' and I suppose he meant it." 
So they came. The man came in weeping and praying 
aloud; but after we had talked with him and tried to 
point him to Christ we engaged in two or three prayers 
with him, and finally witnessed his conversion. He 
seemed entirely changed, and instead of weeping, as 
he had been doing, he began to rejoice and seemed 
very happy. By this time the rain had ceased, and oth- 
ers had come in to witness what had been done. As 
the man was well known in the town, the effect of his 
conversion and its influence on the meeting were quite 
favorable. The work went on until a good harvest 
was gathered into the garner of the Lord. So this 
rainy afternoon and my keeping my promise as an- 
nounced, even at the risk of being called a fool, led 
to this man's conversion, and this in turn led to an ex- 
tended victory. I have thought as to what the results 
might have been had I failed to fill the appointment 
at the church that afternoon and those two men had 
been disappointed when they came for help. We 
should profit by such experiences for future work. I 



292 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

write these things that they may be helpful to others. 
The man mentioned above testified that he would 
have entered the church, if possible, if there had 
been a hundred men with bayonets before him to 
guard the door. How sore the disappointment and 
how sad the possible results if there had been no one 
there to meet him and help him ! Thus we are fre- 
quently led through the greatest difficulties to accom- 
plish the greatest possible results. But the heavier 
the cross, the brighter the crown always. 

It must be understood that when these meetings were 
over from time to . time I would spend a few days 
with the loved ones at home, which always came as 
among the chiefest joys of my life. No one loves his 
own more than does the writer of these sketches. They 
are as dear to me as the blood that flows through my 
veins; and if I did not feel that the Lord had called 
me into this work, I would a hundred times prefer 
to spend the remainder of my days with them, even 
in some quiet retreat. I realize that my best days on 
earth are passing, and to spend them away from home 
almost entirely would certainly be to assume privations 
which are not at all desirable. But the Lord has so 
abundantly set his seal on the work done so far as to 
have demonstrated very clearly his will in the matter, 
and made it clear that this call is from him and should 
be obeyed. "Where he leads" we should follow. 

The next scene of action was at Wynne Junction, 
Ark., where the Lord gave another great victory. 
Ninety-seven were added to the Methodist Church in 
this meeting, and some united with other Churches 
as the result of the work. The beginning of this great 
success was in an afternoon meeting when a young 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 293 

wife and mother came forward for prayer. She was 
the only penitent and was very happily converted al- 
most by the time she had reached the altar ; and as she 
had a good many friends there, there was great re- 
joicing over her conversion. Wynne Junction was 
at that time a new town, growing rapidly, and was 
said to have been already becoming noted for the 
wickedness of its people. Therefore the work accom- 
plished was doubly important. 

Among the large number of converts of this meeting 
were two brothers who were engaged in the livery 
business, and who said they could not conscientiously 
become members of the Church while interested in 
this particular line, as they would necessarily have to 
desecrate the Sabbath, and therefore they did not join 
with their comrades. Of course such a plea will not 
be sufficient when they come to meet the Judge. The 
livery business is a necessity, and I should be glad to 
see this, as well as other lines of activity, controlled 
by Christian people. It is only necessary for people 
engaged in public business to determine in the light of 
the New Testament teachings as to what class of work 
they can do in their line on the Sabbath and yet avoid 
its desecration, and then stick to this rule. 

A hotel keeper once said to me that he wanted to be a 
Christian, but had to feed the people on Sundays, and 
therefore could not carry out the Christian's obliga- 
tion. We would be greatly benefited as a people if 
all our public boarding houses were controlled by peo- 
ple who are strictly Christian in regard to all their 
conduct. A great deal of trouble would thus be 
avoided. I was once conducting a revival in a town 
where there was a large hotel where all sorts of rev- 



294 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

elings were allowed, which rendered it more difficult 
for the Church to succeed. Some one remarked that 
he did wish that this hotel could change hands and be 
run by Christian people. 

In another town the Church was prosperous and 
grace abounded on all sides, when a wicked woman 
who claimed membership in a Church came in and 
rented a popular hotel and soon threw the great din- 
ing hall open for card parties and dancing, and it was 
but a little while until the young people had been 
drawn off from their Churches and the whole town 
and community was demoralized. Truly, "one sinner 
destroyeth much good." Thus we see how it is im- 
portant for anything that ought to exist at all to be 
in the hands of Christian men and women. They must 
determine how much of this can be done on the Sab- 
bath, and then make all necessary arrangements for 
this holy day during the week preceding. To be sure, 
it will be necessary to do some things on the Sabbath, 
but we are only to avoid all unnecessary work. This 
is clearly our Saviour's teaching on the subject when 
he says : "The sabbath was made for man, and not man 
for the sabbath." One should decide what he can do 
and what he ought not to do, and then carry out these 
convictions even if it requires the loss of position. 
Better obey the voice of God and conscience than the 
voice of men. 

Other things might be recorded of Wynne Junction 
and her people as well as of the great meeting held 
there, but I must pass on to make record of other 
things and places. 

My next work was at Muskogee, Ind. T., where an- 
other victory awaited us after a hard- fought battle. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 295 

My invitation to this place was one of the results of the 
great revival at St. Louis. Rev. M. L. Butler was 
pastor of the Methodist Church here at the time, and 
in his fourth year in this charge. Brother Butler had 
been in the Conference twelve years, and this was his 
third pastoral charge. He always served out the full 
limit. Pretty good record ! 

Muskogee was at this time the educational center of 
the Indian Territory. The Methodists, Baptists, and 
Presbyterians all had institutions of learning here, our 
own school, Harrell Institute, being by no means the 
least of these. Rev. Theo. F. Brewer had charge 
of the school, and was in great favor with the student 
body as well as the whole people. The presiding elder, 
Brother Coppedge, also lived at Muskogee, besides one 
or two other traveling ministers whose fields of labor 
were elsewhere. With such a corps of preachers and 
a band of good workers besides to back us, it will not 
be astonishing when I say the success of the work 
was large. But, as already stated, this success was not 
achieved without a conflict. It looked for several days 
as if the battle would be lost ; in fact, we were brought 
to the place in the meeting where we were reminded of 
Christ in the garden, when he "sweat as it were great 
drops of blood." There was also agony here; but 
then we are reminded that it is said that when Zion 
travaileth she bringeth forth sons and daughters to 
God. So we pressed the battle hard. I can never 
forget the experience ; but victory came at last, and the 
work was great. It was truly one of the grandest tri- 
umphs of the year. One hundred and sixty-seven pro- 
fessed faith in Christ and more than a hundred were 
added to the membership of the Methodist Church. It 



296 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was truly good to be there. It was glorious ! All de- 
nominations took part in the work, and brotherly love 
seemed to prevail. Judge McAlister, a Presbyterian, 
said one day during the meeting: "Brethren, I love 
you, and it makes me happy to love you." I suppose 
the Judge expressed the sentiment of the majority 
of the Christians present. Many of the students of 
Harrell Institute were among the converts, and I sup- 
pose every member of the factulty had been greatly 
blessed, as they were all in full sympathy with the 
work and were, in fact, among our best workers. And 
now, after years have come and gone, we want to 
praise God for this great victory. 

In the early history of this meeting the writer of 
these notes was working among the people during the 
after service, and during prayer I was disturbed by 
a company of young people who were behaving very 
badly and evidently making sport of our work. When 
the prayer was over, I moved around in front of them 
and said, "Are you young people Christians?" to 
which they replied: "No." I told them that I 
knew they were not, and that if I could not behave 
myself in church I would stay at home. There 
were two young men and two girls in the company. 
I assured them furthermore that I did not mean to be 
unkind to them in the least, that I was their friend, 
but that they should respect our meeting ; and with this 
I turned from them to help some others who were 
penitent. As soon as I had turned my back they be- 
gan to behave worse than ever, when I went to them 
again and said: "Young ladies, I must tell you now 
that you and your companions must not disturb this 
meeting further. The law protects us in public wor- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 297 

ship, and we must now have order, or some one will 
be in trouble." When the service was over they were 
said to have gone away very mad, saying they would 
hear me no more. However, they were back the next 
night, and one of the young ladies was happily con- 
verted; the following night the other girl gave her 
heart to God, and later still one of the young men came 
in. On the following Sabbath, with a large number 
of others, they were received into the Church, and apol- 
ogized to me for their behavior that night. One can 
never tell who will be saved. 



CHAPTER LVL 
In Northern Missouri. 

When the work was over at Muskogee I went 
direct to Marceline, Mo., in response to an invitation 
from Rev. Ward M. Baker. My route was via Kan- 
sas City and thence over the Santa Fe Railroad along 
the Missouri River, traversing one of the richest sec- 
tions of country I have ever seen — fully equal to the 
Sacramento Valley in California or the Yazoo Delta 
in Mississippi. Carrollton, Mo., one of the educational 
centers of the State, was on this route. 

Marceline is a flourishing town near the Iowa line, 
and is made up of a wealthy class of people; but the 
Church at the time of which I write was at a low ebb. 
Although it was in the month of May, the weather 
was very disagreeable; and our house of worship be- 
ing located almost a mile out from town made it quite 
difficult for us to secure the attendance even of the 
membership of the Church. After a few days we suc- 
ceeded in securing a large hall in town, and from then 
on had a large attendance and a good meeting. My stay 
here was very pleasant, as I was given a good home 
while in the meeting. I also attended the Macon Dis- 
trict Conference at Brookfield while there, and met a 
goodly number of the preachers. As the work at Mar- 
celine had been crowned with a good degree of suc- 
cess, I was invited to a number of other places. 

I accepted an invitation to Clarence, Mo., and after 

(298) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 299 

a visit home and a few days spent with my family, I 
returned to Clarence to assist Dr. McAnally in a two 
weeks' meeting. I had found Brother Baker, of Mar- 
celine, and Presiding Elder Grimes very pleasant com- 
panions in the work, and felt sure Dr. McAnally would 
be equally so ; and in this I was not disappointed. The 
work at Clarence was very pleasant; and while the 
visible results were not as large as at some other places, 
still we enjoyed a degree of success. 

My trip home from Marceline and back to Clarence 
was via Hannibal, St. Louis, and Cairo, 111., thus run- 
ning along the Mississippi River a good portion of the 
way from Hannibal to Memphis, a distance of six hun- 
dred miles or more. 

When the work at Clarence was over, I returned to 
Arkansas to conduct a meeting at Gurdon for Dr. E. 
N". Watson. One might suppose that with all these 
victories recorded there would be large compensation 
and one would soon become independent. In fact, 
there are those who think this special line of work is 
chosen because of the large amount of money there is 
in it; but there was never a greater mistake. True, 
we did sometimes strike a place where the people were 
more liberal than at others, but ordinarily there was 
not much beyond a decent living given at any place, 
while it was very often the case that traveling ex- 
penses seemed to be thought a proper compensation. 

Just at this time I was passing a period of three 
months during which my railroad fare about covered 
the amount of reward from a temporal standpoint. 
I was once invited to a town to conduct a revival in 
company with my singer when we were put at the hotel 
to stay ; and after three weeks' hard work we were left 



300 Trials and TriumpJis of a Young Preacher. 

to pay our own hotel bill. It frequently occurs, as 
in this case, that even after the work has been crowned 
with a measure of success the meeting closes in a 
storm of bad weather, which leaves no opportunity for 
taking a collection, and the workers are left with very 
little or no compensation. 

When the three months alluded to above (when I 
was paid nothing for my work) were followed by 
some meetings where liberal contributions were made 
for the work, those who witnessed the amounts con- 
tributed (which were not extravagant themselves) 
might have supposed that this was always the case, 
when in fact such was rather the exception than the 
rule ; so that the amount received during the run of a 
year (after traveling expenses are paid) would not 
amount to more than a good average salary in a pas- 
toral charge — and this, too, after one has suffered the 
privations of being away from loved ones and at the 
same time having worked hard every day. If any one 
imagines that it is an easy task to conduct three serv- 
ices a day ranging from one and a half to two hours 
each, he is simply mistaken, and only needs to try it to 
learn the truth of this statement. 

The meeting at Gurdon was good. A class of twenty 
odd was received into the Methodist Church, and some 
names were given for other Churches. My home while 
there was at the parsonage, and Brother and Sister 
Watson, with their accomplished daughter, enter- 
tained me very kindly. Sister Watson comforted me 
concerning my mother, who had been dead some time ; 
but I had never felt reconciled to her death. I felt that 
she ought to have remained with us longer, and one 
day stated my feelings about it to Sister Watson, who 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 301 

said in reply: "Brother Kilgore, was your mother a 
Christian?" I told her she certainly was, as it was 
said of her when she died: "She was the salt of the 
earth." Sister Watson then said: "You think she is 
gone to heaven then, of course?" I replied: "I cer- 
tainly do." She then asked me if I would rob my 
mother of a single moment's peace and joy and rest 
in heaven ; said that she had served her time here, and 
done this faithfully, and had now simply gone home 
where she could rest. I had never been able before to 
think of it just in this light ; but I have ever since been 
perfectly reconciled to her death, and only want to live 
myself so that I may meet her again on the other side. 

The work ended at Gurdon, I went home again, and 
this time to remain longer than usual, as we were now 
arranging to leave Memphis and move to Searcy, Ark. 
Of course there was the usual hurry and worry inci- 
dent to a move of this kind ; but it would not be profit- 
able to the reader to have all this given in detail. The 
work was soon finished, and the household goods all 
packed and ready for shipment, and our private grips 
packed and ready for the trip. It was Saturday even- 
ing when the work was completed. My plan was 
to go to Searcy and spend the Sabbath with 
friends, and thus give Mrs. Kilgore and the children 
an opportunity to see their future home, and then take 
them on to the Indian Territory to spend the time with 
me allotted for the meeting at Wagoner, where I was 
to work next. Wliile our goods were packed and ready 
for shipment, we did not move them from the build- 
ing we had occupied, as we had a half month to go 
on before our rent time was out, and I was anxious 
for my family to go and look around before we moved. 



302 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

There was an object in view in taking them to the 
Territory with me just at this particular time. Dr. 
Bailey, of Eufaula, Ind. T., who was converted in our 
meeting at Muskogee, had offered to give me a home 
at his place. He offered to build a nice new cottage on 
a good convenient lot and make me a deed to it if I 
would make Eufaula my home. While I was already 
in doubt myself as to whether or not it was the thing 
to do, still I wanted my wife to see the country and 
place and decide herself whether she would like to live 
there or not. 

As already stated, it was Saturday evening, and our 
plan was to go as far as Searcy to spend the Sabbath ; 
but, to our great disappointment and inconvenience, 
when we reached the Iron Mountain Railroad station, 
we were informed that the schedule had been changed 
that day and we were an hour late, which necessitated 
our going to a hotel and remaining in the city till next 
morning. As this was Sunday, we did not go to 
Searcy, as we had planned, but ran over to Wynne 
Junction and remained there until Monday morning, 
and then continued our trip to Wag-oner without stop- 
ping off at Searcy, though one day was spent in Little 
Rock, as we did not make good connection there ; and 
then, too, this gave my wife an opportunity to make 
some preparation for this extended trip which had 
been neglected at Memphis, owing to the abundance 
of other work necessary to be done ; and besides this, 
it was pleasant for my family to take in part of the city 
of Little Rock, as this was their first visit there. 

Leaving Little Rock, and after an all-night's run, 
we reached our destination early next morning, and 
were taken to the homes provided for us, where we 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 303 

were as kindly cared for as the circumstances of the 
people would allow. Wife, baby, and I were enter- 
tained at the parsonage, and Brother and Sister 
Belcher were very kind to us. The other children had 
a pleasant home at the Brown House (hotel). The 
meeting started oft well ; but there came one of those 
proverbial Western hot winds, which rendered it so 
disagreeable to be in a house at all, especially where 
there was a crowd, that we could not influence many 
to attend. Still, we were there, the expense of the trip 
was heavy, and, as we hoped the hot wave would soon 
pass, we tried to continue the work under these un- 
favorable circumstances. No one can even imagine 
what one of those hot winds is until he has passed 
through one himself. To give the reader some idea, 
however, of the destructive effects of one, when we 
reached the Territory corn was in silk and tassel, 
and the prospects for a heavy yield of this as 
well as other products was very flattering indeed; 
but after five days of this hot wind, the fields 
looked as if they had been burned with fire. Every- 
thing was completely parched. During this time it 
was like breathing off of a hot stove ; one couldn't get 
a good breath. There were no shade trees near the 
town. It is a prairie district, and the only shades in 
reach are the shelters in connection with the houses; 
hence it was necessary to remain indoors nearly all 
day. This and the evident moral influences of the 
country at the time settled the question as to our prob- 
able future there. Our stay there was ended when the 
meeting was over, except to stop off at Muskogee and 
spend a day and night with our good Brother Butler 
and his amiable wife and children. 



304 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Notwithstanding the above difficulties, the work at 
Wagoner resulted in some additions to the Church 
and good work in other respects. Bishop Hendrix 
called at the parsonage, spent an hour or two during 
our stay there, and seemed to feel a great interest 
in the work and an interest of course in the Territory 
in general. He spoke of the difficulties attending the 
work in the West, and observed that it had been said 
of Abraham that he proved himself a true Christian 
in that he moved West and yet held to his religion. 

During the progress of the meeting at Wagoner 
we received an invitation to Chico, Tex., to conduct 
another revival for Rev. B. H. Bounds, under whose 
ministry wife and I were both converted when 
young in Mississippi, which fact led us to accept the 
invitation and spend nearly two months together in 
the Lone Star State. En route to Chico we found it 
necessary to make stops at Denison and Fort Worth, 
where the time was passed pleasantly. 

The meeting at Chico did not prove successful along 
any line except in the matter of attendance. We 
preached to large crowds ; but there was but little visi- 
ble fruit. Of course some new friendships were formed 
and old ones renewed; but the work was not satisfac- 
tory. The condition of my health at the time probably 
militated against the meeting, so far as my part was 
concerned, as I was a victim of hay fever — fever all 
the time, and yet able to keep going. One who has 
ever had this will know what I mean. I attended ev- 
ery service, however, including the sunrise prayer serv- 
ice, except one, and there was an incident growing out 
of this particular service which was rather painfully 
amusing. I was probably feeling no worse than I had 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 305 

felt for nearly a month; but as it was Sunday night, 
and a large audience was expected, I felt hardly able 
to meet the responsibility of the hour, and therefore ex- 
cused myself and remained in my room. 

We were stopping nearly a mile from the church. 
My wife went to church with the family, and the chil- 
dren also went. When they returned, wife told me 
that when the service was over she missed one of our 
little boys, and failed to find him, although she made 
a diligent search for him. This greatly disturbed me, 
and I could imagine him lost in the woods, as the 
church was located out in the edge of the town, and 
the woods were full of wolves and coyotes. Think- 
ing he may have gone to sleep somewhere on the 
church grounds, I arose, dressed, and walked to the 
church through the sand, of which there was an abun- 
dance there ; and, failing to find him, I was making the 
return trip to my stopping place, intrusting the safe- 
keeping of my boy to the Lord until morning. As I 
was passing through a wooded place I heard an un- 
earthly noise to my left, although it seemed to be in the 
air and some distance away. I took it to be some kind 
of a fowl or bird, and moved on, thinking no more of 
it until I heard it a second time. It seemed now to be 
behind me, and as I turned to look I saw the form of 
what seemed to be a large animal coming bounding 
toward me. By this time I had reached a lane with 
a high fence on each side, and hence could not turn 
eithei to the right or left. I am sure I will never feel 
more certain that my time has come than I did that 
night. I had no weapon of defense, nothing to protect 
myself with, and was sure that I would in a moment 
or two more be torn to pieces by some sort of a wild 
20 



306 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

beast — I knew not what. My only hope was to fright- 
en the thing away, whatever it could be ; and with this 
I turned and began to jump up and down as high as 
I could, and hollo as loud as I could, nearly frightened 
to death, when the thing of terror began to slow up 
and wag his tail, at which time I discovered that it 
was Brother Smith's big dog. He had evidently fol- 
lowed me, though unnoticed until this time. The re- 
lief that this brought me was greater than I can tell. 
In fact, I had already been wondering how I would 
get back to my room without being disturbed by him, 
as he was considered bad as a yard dog; so I was re- 
lieved of this dread also. I thought afterwards that 
possibly all this came to me as a sort of punishment 
for not having gone to church that night. 

When I think how badly scared I was that night, and 
how large that dog looked at first, I am reminded of the 
story of the little boy who on seeing a shaggy dog one 
day ran in and told his mamma he had seen a lion. 
She told him he was mistaken; but when he insisted 
that he had, she rebuked him and told him he must go 
in the closet and ask the good Lord to forgive him for 
telling a story. When he came out, she asked him if 
he had made it all right with the Lord, to which he 
replied : "O yes ; there was no trouble about that. The 
Lord said he thought the dog was a lion himself when 
he first saw it." So I consoled myself with the thought 
that most any one would have been scared at such a 
looking thing coming just at the time it did and under 
the circumstances that then surrounded me. 

Probably if I had gone on the Lord would have 
strengthened me and helped me through the service, 
as he had often done under similar circumstances, and 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 307 

some one might have been saved and the work have 
taken a deeper hold and been attended with larger re- 
sults as the outgrowth of this particular service, and 
then I would have been saved all this trouble. 

The boy had only gone to sleep in the wagon belong- 
ing to the family where he was stopping, and had been 
taken home that way. 

When the work had ended at Chico, we went to Col- 
lin County to visit relatives, where I conducted a meet- 
ing of five days, and received into the Methodist 
Church forty-one persons, nearly all grown. The work 
would have been continued here and the results possi- 
bly have been much larger, but another denomination 
held a convention at the same (union) church, which 
had been previously appointed when nothing was 
known of our meeting, and hence when their time 
came we had to close. More fruit of union church 
houses. 

Leaving my family with the relatives here, I made 
a trip to Searcy, Ark., to receive our household goods 
and place them, so my family could go home at will. 
The reason of this extra trip was, I had engaged to 
conduct another meeting in Collin County, at Blue 
Ridge, before leaving Texas ; and yet it was necessary 
that our goods be looked after at once. 

On my return from Searcy it was needful for me 
to change trains at Greenville, where, according to the 
regular schedule, I would make close connection ; but 
when I reached Greenville the other train had been 
gone just twenty minutes, and so I was left to wait 
over twenty-four hours. This seemed quite unfortu- 
nate ; but the sequel will show the contrary. Of course 
I would have to secure a place to spend the night, and 



308 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was therefore on the lookout for a hotel porter when 
a gentleman standing on the platform looked at me with 
the appearance of recognition, finally advanced a 
step or two toward me, and said: "Are you not from 
Mississippi?" When I replied that I was, he said: 
"Yes; and this is Rev. Kilgore." I then recognized 
him as my old friend, Howard Brame, from West 
Point, Miss., who was at the time himself keeping a 
boarding house at Greenville. He took me in hi-s hack 
and carried me to his own place, where I was made to 
feel quite at home. Soon after reaching their home, 
while engaged in conversation, mention was made of 
Mrs. Dr. Ervin being in town assisting in religious 
meetings, and on inquiry I learned that it was Mrs. 
Dr. Ervin, of Mississippi, who was one of my former 
parishioners at Columbus, and for whom I had the 
profoundest respect as a Christian woman. I was 
soon informed that she would lecture to young 
Christians at the Baptist church that night, and of 
course began to make my plans to go and hear her, 
which I did. When I entered the church, I went to 
where she was seated and made myself known to her, 
as she had not yet gone to the front. She expressed 
herself as being quite glad to see me, and called on 
me to offer the opening prayer. I had told her I could 
not remain through, as I wanted to go to the Metho- 
dist church, where the presiding elder was to preach 
in connection with a week-day Quarterly" Conference. 
I reached the Methodist church before they closed, 
and at the close made myself known to the elder, who 
introduced me to some others. On the following 
morning I was taking in the town, and as I was en- 
tering the courthouse I was met by a gentleman who 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 309 

asked me if I was not a preacher ; then he stated that 
he had met me the evening before at the church. This 
led to an extended conversation, at the conclusion of 
which he invited me to remain and preach for them on 
the following Sabbath, as their pastor was away from 
home on an extended trip for his health. I told him 
I could not do this, as I had an engagement to hold a 
meeting at Blue Ridge ; but he suggested that the pas- 
tor at Blue Ridge could fill his own pulpit on Sunday 
and let me come in on Monday. I finally agreed to 
return and preach at Greenville if the pastor at Blue 
Ridge would excuse me ; and with this continued my 
trip. 

When I reached my brother's, where my family was 
stopping, a note was handed me from the preacher at 
Blue Ridge, Rev. J. H. Hunter, stating that he could 
not hold his meeting then, as there were difficulties in 
his way he knew not of when the arrangements were 
made. Thus I was left free to return to Greenville, 
and did so on the following day, accompanied by my 
family. In the meantime our pastor there had re- 
turned after an absence of two months ; but he asked 
me to fill his pulpit at the evening hour, which I con- 
sented to do. He preached a fine sermon in the morn- 
ing, which gave an inspiration to the service, and ena- 
bled me to preach with much more freedom. At 
the close of the sermon and while the pastor was mak- 
ing some announcements and other closing remarks 
some of the brethren came to me and aksed me if I 
could not remain and preach to them a few days, which 
I consented to do, as I had the time open allotted to 
Blue Ridge. After consulting their pastor, the an- 
nouncement and plans for the work were made. 



310 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

I have written all the above incidents in detail that 
I might show how God works through what seem to 
be the little things of life and even our disappointments 
to accomplish his will in us ; and that these small 
things, such as that of the late train causing me to miss 
connection at Greenville by only twenty minutes, are 
sometimes the connecting links which bind us to great- 
er events. 



CHAPTER LVII. 

The Greenville Meeting. 

It was shown in the chapter preceding this how a 
succession of events led to my coming to Greenville 
just at the time of the pastor's return to the charge 
after an absence of several weeks. It was Rev. Dr. 
Carroll who had charge of the Church at the time, and 
a better man never breathed the breath of life. His 
return, of course, made it possible for me to hold the 
meeting to be described in this chapter, which proved 
in every way to be one of the greatest in the history 
of my ministry. It seemed that Divine Providence had 
planned the work in every particular, and I was only 
used as his willing agent to bring about the re- 
sults. Elder Dixie Williams, of the Baptist Church, 
had just closed a meeting here, and had evidently done 
some good seed-sowing. Then this was being followed 
up by some good work by Airs. Dr. Ervin, who was 
leading in some public meetings for the strengthening 
of the good impressions already made. Added to this 
the three resident pastors, Rev. Dr. Bone, of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. Anderson, of 
the Baptist Church, and Rev. Dr. Carroll, of our own 
Methodist Church, were working in perfect harmony, 
which itself was no small item, as they were constantly 
in their place and ready to do anything called on for 
the good of the meeting. "In union there is strength. " 
Rev. Mr. Caldwell, the new Presbvterian pastor, was 

(3") 



312 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

also with us when in town, and gave us the benefit of 
his presence and what work he could do. Besides 
these, there was a band of ready lay workers in the 
Church, who seemed always ready to be appointed to 
any duty, and whose services were used of God in ef- 
fecting decided results toward the general good ac- 
complished. Mrs. Dr. Ervin was also still with us, 
and with her open Bible, with which she seems per- 
fectly familiar, went into the homes of the people and 
into almost every place where a sinner might be found 
as far as her time and strength would admit. Her un- 
tiring zeal, always noteworthy, was never more so 
than on this occasion. Added to her other work, the 
results of which were visible on every hand, she made 
daily visits to the jail, where some good work was ac- 
complished. She also enlisted others in this good 
work. Fortunately, too, the prisoners were in the 
hands of that stalwart Christian gentleman, J. F. An- 
derson, better known as "Amen Jim," of whom fur- 
ther mention will be made in these pages. 

Early in the history of the meeting a prayer service 
was announced for men at the Cumberland Presbyte- 
rian church in the afternoon, while the Christian wom- 
en would engage in a similar service at the Methodist 
church at the same hour. The meeting for men was 
almost a failure as to attendance, there being none 
present but the preachers and one or two others. See- 
ing this service would not be a success at the church, 
I asked for a hall or vacant room up in the business 
part of town, where the men we hoped to benefit might 
be reached. The Knights of Honor hall was offered, 
it being a very desirable place for the meetings in ev- 
ery particular. Seats were soon arranged for as many 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 313 

as were supposed would be likely to attend; but when 
the appointed hour came for the service at this place 
the seats furnished were not nearly sufficient. The 
number of chairs was doubled for the next afternoon, 
the attendance had also greatly increased, and the 
interest in this service was great; so on the following 
day the hall was filled with seats, and these were soon 
all occupied. The hall was a large one, but it was 
not long before standing room was at a premium; 
and notwithstanding it was an "upper room," the 
people would gather in the street below in front of 
the building to hear the singing as well as the fre- 
quent shouts of praise. This service was held at five 
o'clock in the afternoon, being preceded by cottage 
prayer meetings in different parts of the city at an 
earlier hour. Sometimes there were as many as from 
five to seven of these earlier prayer services held at 
the same hour in different places led by different per- 
sons, and reports of these meetings with their results 
would be given at these five o'clock meetings, which 
would from time to time give new inspiration to the 
workers. It was not unfrequent that conversions were 
reported in connection with cottage meetings, and 
sometimes such as to give us great encouragement. 
One notable instance of this kind was that of a lead- 
ing railroad engineer who was happily converted one 
afternoon in a service in his own home led by R. C. 
Dial. He came that night, together with his wife, 
and united with the Methodist Church, and has 
ever since been a faithful and useful member. Be- 
sides these various afternoon services, there were the 
regular morning and evening services at the Metho- 
dist church, which were largely attended, and where 



314 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the special work of trying to get people saved was 
pressed to the farthest possible extent, and where the 
harvest was reaped for all the Churches. Eternity 
alone can reveal the amount of good that was done or 
the number that were saved. 

The work was truly great, as every class and con- 
dition of society was reached. Among the earlier 
converts in the meeting were some of the railroad 
boys, who later came forward and asked me to 
hold a service for them at 4 p.m., which I consented 
to do. Taking Sister Ervin and one or two others 
with me, I went to the roundhouse and held services ; 
but as there was but little room provided, we could 
speak to but a few people. The next day, however, 
the boys said if we would come again they would ar- 
range larger quarters for us, where as many could be 
accommodated as would come. Announcement for this 
service was soon made in the congregations at the 
church, and everybody was invited to attend. So on 
the following afternoon there were at least four hun- 
dred people, so estimated, at the roundhouse, and 
an interesting service was enjoyed. At the close this 
great throng of people marched in a body down Lee 
Street, the principal street in the city, singing as they 
went the song with the chorus : "We will walk through 
the streets of the city/' Having passed on through 
the Public Square, they assembled at the hall for the 
five o'clock service. It would be hard to exaggerate 
the extent of the influence of this particular service. 
Thus the work spread and increased until every ele- 
ment in the town had been brought under its influence 
and scores, probably hundreds, had been saved. The 
meeting was historic, and is often talked of yet as 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 315 

being the greatest religious wave that has ever visited 
Hunt County, Tex., as its influence seemed to extend 
to every corner of the county and beyond. Quite a 
number of ministers from other places were in attend- 
ance from time to time, and among these was Rev. E. 
H. Casey, of Sulphur Springs, Tex., who invited me 
to conduct a meeting in his charge when the above 
meeting was over. In the meantime my family had 
gone on to our new home at Searcy, Ark. ; hence it 
was necessary for me to make a run home when the 
above work had ended to see that they were properly 
and comfortably arranged for. After a few days spent 
with them, I returned to Sulphur Springs to join 
Brother Casey in his meeting there. 

We had at least one thing favorable to begin with 
at Sulphur Springs, and that was a beautiful new 
brick church, which Brother Casey had succeeded in 
having completed without debt, and which was dedi- 
cated by Bishop Hargrove during the meeting. He 
spent two or three days with us and took part in the 
work. The church is quite conveniently located, and 
hence the attendance was large in all the services. 
Brother Casey enjoyed the confidence of his people 
perfectly, which was another great help in the work. 
This meeting was good from the beginning, and re- 
sulted in about two hundred conversions and reclama- 
tions, and largely over a hundred additions to the 
Methodist Church. 

After the winter months had passed, and while I was 
engaged in another very successful meeting in another 
Texas town, some designing parties circulated the re- 
port where I was at work that the work at Sulphur 
Springs did not stand — that not a trace of it could be 



316 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

found. Only six months or less had elapsed since the 
meeting was held; and as the new church at Sulphur 
Springs had no heating arrangements yet, as they were 
planning to put in a furnace rather than stoves, I did 
not know but that great loss had been sustained, and 
I was troubled over it; but having an idea that this 
report was being circulated for effect, I stepped down 
to the telegraph office on Sunday morning, feeling as 
I did that it would be for the glory of God for the 
facts to be known, whatever they were, and wired 
Brother Casey to know what per cent of the converts 
of his meeting were holding out. His answer was, "At 
least ninety-five per cent" — and this, too, without know- 
ing my purpose in making the inquiry. Even those 
who claim to be Christians often join with the devil in 
trying to defeat the work of the Church. I read Broth- 
er Casey's telegram at the opening of the morning 
service on that Sunday, and joined with the choir and 
congregation in singing the long-meter doxology. 

While the work was in progress at Sulphur Springs 
the town was visited by two circuses — Ringling Broth- 
ers' and Sells Brothers' — just a week apart and coming 
in the order given. The Ringling Brothers and their 
company, one hundred and fourteen in number, took 
meals at the hotel where I was stopping. I found the 
Brothers to be pleasant gentlemen. They are sons of 
a Methodist minister, and two or three of them are 
members of the Church themselves. While the writer 
does not indorse circuses, yet I believe that this show 
comes as near being a decent one as it is possible for 
such a thing to be. They do not allow, as is customary, 
gambling on their grounds or in connection with their 
show in any way. This street parade was announced 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 317 

for 10 a.m., which was the hour for our morning serv- 
ice in the meeting. Of course we made no change in 
the order of the services to fit the show, but went on 
with our work as usual. When we had gotten started 
off with the service, the bands with the show struck up 
their music for the parade. As our church was on a 
corner, the procession came down one street and up 
the other, making their turn at the church, thus giving 
us the full benefit of the occasion. When I discovered 
that my voice alone was not sufficient to compete with 
the bands and that some of our people were becoming 
quite restless to get to the door and see the parade, I 
suspended my talk and called for a song, stating at the 
same time that any who felt specially anxious to see 
the procession could do so ; and while some went to the 
door and took in the parade, others of us joined in 
singing "How firm a foundation." A a we closed the 
last stanza, having sung the entire hymn, the rear end 
of the procession was just moving away, and Brother 
R. C. Dial, of Greenville, who was present assisting in 
the work, observed that that was the first time he knew 
"How firm a foundation" was just as long as Ring- 
ling Brothers' show. While these circuses came and 
went, they did not, as might have been expected and 
as is usually the case, stop the progress of the meeting ; 
but, on the contrary, the work went on without a break 
until the success was achieved as already recorded. 

A circumstance was related in this meeting which 
I think worthy of note here. It was related by 
Brother Foscue, a wealthy banker of this place, as 
occurring in his own life. He stated that when 
he w T as much younger he was engaged in farming, 
and after a great rain, when the fences had been 



318 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

washed away in the low places and the land was very 
soft where it had been plowed, he walked down toward 
his field and saw a horse grazing in one of the low 
places, where he didn't care to go to drive him out; 
and thinking the horse would damage the land by 
bogging about in it, he decided he would shoot at him 
and scare him, having his gun loaded only with shot; 
but when he fired, to his great surprise and sorrow, the 
horse fell down dead. On further examination, he 
found that it was his neighbor's horse, and a good one 
too. He said he never had the courage to go to his 
neighbor and make a clean statement of the whole 
affair, which would really have been a great relief ; 
but, on the other hand, had kept it smothered up in 
his own bosom. One day, a year or more after the 
thing had happened, he was present where a number of 
men were engaged in conversation, his neighbor men- 
tioned above being among them, who related the fact 
of having lost a good horse a year before, but could 
never tell what became of him. Foscue said he knew, 
of course, but still kept it to himself. Time rolled on 
until his neighbor had moved away, and things had 
changed generally, while he himself had accumulated 
good property and finally become president of a bank. 
He was sitting in front of his bank one day when a 
young man came up with whom he opened conversa- 
tion, and found him to be a son of the man whose 
horse he had killed. He asked him about his father, 
and the young man informed him that his father was 
dead. Brother Foscue said he was sorry to hear that. 
He learned also that the mother was still living, and 
was blind. Without mentioning any of the above, 
he took the post office address of the blind widow ; 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 319 

and when the young man was gone, he went into 
his office and wrote a check for what he thought 
would be double the value of the horse, and sent it to 
her, stating the facts in his letter of advice as above re- 
lated. After a few days had passed, he received an 
answer from her, stating that she knew nothing of the 
circumstance referred to, but supposed he knew what 
he was doing, and thanked him very kindly for the mon- 
ey, stating furthermore that she was very needy, and 
regarded this as coming from God, who in his mercy 
had remembered the widow in the time of want. 

The work over at Sulphur Springs, I went home for 
a few days again, and then on to Prairie Grove, Ark., 
and held a meeting at Viny Grove, where a good work 
was accomplished — closing the work of the Conference 
year. While at Prairie Grove, which is in the extreme 
western part of Arkansas, I had the pleasure of visiting 
the home of Mrs. Dodson and family, old friends from 
Coffeeville, Miss. 

From here I went to the session of the North Texas 
Conference to plan some work for the future with 
some brethren who had been writing to me with re- 
gard to meetings. The session of the Conference 
named was held at Bonham, Tex. It was at this Con- 
ference that I last met with Rev. J. Wesley Beville, 
who had served as chorister in some of my meetings 
in Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Missouri. Since 
this time I have lost sight of him entirely. 

From Bonham en route home I stopped off at the 
session of the Little Rock Conference at Hot Springs 
and heard. a great address by Dr. Alonzo Monk on 
"Education," as well as some other good things. Then 
I went to Memphis for a few days with the loved ones. 



320 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

I next went to the session of the White River Con- 
ference to render an account of past events and take 
whatever might be in store for me. But of this I shall 
give the reader a full account in my next chapter. 
Praise the Lord for his great mercies during the past 
year! 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

Nebraska City and East Texas. 

The reader of these pages will remember something 
of my defeated plans with reference to securing a 
location from the traveling ministry at the Jonesboro 
Conference a year ago, and how the Bishop seemed 
somewhat arbitrary as to the matter; but all this will 
be explained at the Conference at Helena, Ark., where 
I must account for not having served the charge to 
which I was appointed, Marion Circuit. Bishop Hen- 
drix presided at Helena. As soon as the Conference 
was open for the minute business my name was called, 
and my presiding elder. Rev. Frank Ritter, stated that 
I had not served my charge, and that I was present 
and could speak for myself. When the Bishop called 
for my statement, I arose and related the whole story 
in brief, as it has been told in a former chapter of this 
book. The Bishop listened patiently to my report, and 
asked me kindly what I wanted. I told him that I 
wanted a location. He then asked me to retire from 
the Conference room until a vote could be taken on 
my case, as is customary in such cases. The Bishop 
then stated to the Conference that Bishop Keener had 
not intended to afflict me personally by refusing to 
locate me, that he was my friend, but that he (Bishop 
Keener) wanted to get the question of evangelists 
more prominently before the General Conference, and 
for this reason was hoping that I would take an appeal 
21 (321) 



2,22 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

to that body from his ruling. He said that as the 
White River Conference was the last for Bishop 
Keener before the General Conference would convene 
he thought this a good case and opportunity to carry 
his point; that Bishop Keener, he thought, really felt 
disappointed that I had not pressed my case and taken 
the appeal. After this statement was made the vote 
was taken, and I was given a location without a word 
on the Conference floor from any one and without an 
opposing vote, and thus the case was settled. Of 
course I had felt somewhat afflicted by the Bishop's 
proceedings the year before; but this had been no 
special hindrance to my work, as is evidenced by the 
results of the meetings at St. Louis and Commerce, 
Mo., Batesville, Ark., Muskogee, Ind. T., Greenville, 
Tex., and other places, as recorded in the preceding 
chapter. 

Now that the question had been finally settled, I was 
left free to make engagements wherever there might 
be an open door. During the Conference at Helena, 
which was the shortest session on record, having con- 
vened on Wednesday and adjourned the following 
Friday, I received an invitation from Rev. W. D. 
Kelley, of Nebraska City, Nebr., to go there at once 
and conduct two meetings for him. This was 
so far north, and it winter time too, that I dreaded 
the trip ; but my friend, Dr. John H. Dye, and others 
insisted that I should go, saying that it would probably 
give me a good send-off for the new year ; and as there 
was no other door open just at the time for what might 
be termed the Christmas season, I wrote Brother Kel- 
ley I would come if I could. I still felt a little indefi- 
nite about it, and so wrote him. I went home, made 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 323 

arrangements, and was soon off, but still hoping that 
something else would open up so I would have an ex- 
cuse not to go. Indeed, I left home undecided whether 
I would try to go to Nebraska or somewhere else. I 
felt sure I could find places for meetings, but I prayed 
to the Lord very earnestly to lead me in the matter 
and to make my way plain before me. With this feel- 
ing, I went as far as St. Louis and stopped with friends 
three days, hoping something might possibly open up 
there for me, as I had received invitations during the 
past year from Kirkwood and Wagoner Place, and 
could not respond to them favorably ; but now none of 
the brethren seemed ready for such a work. So it was 
still left for me to go on to Nebraska City. 

Just here I had a rather novel as well as painful 
experience for the time. Leaving home in the unde- 
cided state of mind that I had, and forgetting that my 
railroad half-fare permits would all run out with the 
old year and hence the cost of the trip would be con- 
siderably greater, then spending as much time in St. 
Louis as I did. taking in Kirkwood, East St. Louis, 
and other suburbs, trying to pave the way for a meet- 
ing, thus incurring additional cost at every turn, I soon 
found my money supply exhausted, and I not yet half- 
way to the place of my destination. I did not have 
enough money to continue the trip or to return home. 
This was quite an unpleasant experience. I went, how- 
ever, and stated the case to Dr. Stanley, a friend of 
mine in the city, and told him I would have to get 
some money either to go on or get back home on. He 
said he had none by him, but said that I had a friend 
at a certain number on a certain street who had mon- 
ey, and who he felt sure would be glad to help me. It 



324 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was a lady who had been in the meeting held in the city 
the year before. I did not even know her, but she 
remembered me; and when I called at her door she 
seemed very glad to see me. I soon told her my trou- 
ble, and she asked me how much help I needed. I 
told her, and she furnished me the amount. I told her 
I would return it when I reached my destination; but 
she insisted that I should never return it, saying that 
she had felt all the time that she had not given me as 
much as she ought for my work in her Church, and 
was only too glad to have this opportunity to relieve 
her conscience on the subject. Thus the Lord seemed 
to be helping me on my way and making it plain that 
I should continue the trip. Sometimes the way seems 
very dark, and it is hard for one to know what his 
duty is, and it had been so in this case. I continued 
the trip, however, and the Lord gave us a gracious 
meeting at Down's Chapel, near Nebraska City. 

This Church includes our membership at Nebraska 
City and contiguous territory, and is a good Church. 
My home while there was at a Mr. Overton's, whose 
wife and daughter were devout Methodists. I shall 
never forget their great kindness to me while there. 
The weather was very cold part of the time, the tem- 
perature registering eighteen degrees below zero at 
one time, and that, too, with a strong northwest wind ; 
but for all this, I was never more comfortably enter- 
tained in my life. 

While there I went across the Missouri River into 
Iowa to visit Rev. M. N. Payne, who made such lib- 
eral gifts to various institutions of learning and also 
to other charities. He was evidently a great and good 
man. He was a local minister in our Southern Church, 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 325 

and was greatly loved by all who knew him. That 
portion of Iowa where he lived was very rich and fer- 
tile, being along the Missouri River. My route from 
St. Louis to Nebraska City was through this fine sec- 
tion of Iowa via St. Joseph, Mo., and along the river 
to Nebraska City. I was impressed all along with the 
beauty and richness of the country ; but the climate is 
too severe for an extreme Southerner. While in 
Brother Payne's home I witnessed an incident which 
will serve to give the reader a better idea of the rich- 
ness of this man's liberality. A woman came to his 
door and called for him. When he responded, she 
spoke to him as though she knew him well, when he 
said to her: "Have I ever met you?" She replied, 
"No, Mr. Payne ; you don't know me," and then stated 
that she lived at a certain place in the hill country, 
several miles away, and that she was trying to make 
a crop, but had no corn to feed her horse. She said 
her husband was living, but was an invalid, and she 
had to make the support for herself and him, and that 
she had come to see if he could tell her where she 
could get some corn ; said she had some cedar posts 
and thought he might need them on his ranch in the 
West, and for them could let her have the corn she 
needed. He heard her story, then turned to his desk 
and wrote an order to his manager to let the lady have 
fifteen bushels of corn, or as much more as she could 
carry at a load, and handed her the note with instruc- 
tions as to where to go for the corn. She then told 
him he could get the posts when he called for them. 
His reply was : "O no, keep your posts ; you will need 
them for something else. You will owe me nothing 
for the corn." He then invited the woman into the 



326 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

dining room, where she was given a good dinner, after 
which she went away with a grateful heart. His home 
was a single-story house, with an abundance of room, 
and was painted red.; in fact, everything was painted 
red — fences, barn, outhouses, and all — and was known 
as the "red ranch." While he had rather a humble- 
looking home for one of his wealth, he evidently had 
a big outdoor heart. 

Our other meeting was at Julian, Nebr., and was 
good; but I was called home before it was finished. 
I had spent a full month, however, on the trip, and 
had seen and heard many things new to me. I was 
then in the country where our Western meat supply 
comes from, and I saw herds of hogs ranging in num- 
ber up into the hundreds, and saw the owners feed 
them corn by the wagonload. I also witnessed the 
process of packing ice from the river. The ice on the 
river was fourteen inches thick while I was there; 
it was taken from the river in fourteen-inch cubes. 
The process of packing was quite interesting to me, 
as it was taken with great facility from the river and 
placed in the cars above to be hauled away to the 
packing house ; but I must not take time to explain all 
this here. While at Julian we had a snow that drifted 
seven feet deep. This, however, seemed to have no 
effect on the attendance at the meeting, as the people 
there do not seem to mind such things. 

My return trip to Arkansas was over the Southern 
Pacific Railway via Leavenworth, Kans., and Kansas 
City. The snow described above was general, extend- 
ing all the way home ; but it was not drifted as in Ne- 
braska or so heavy as there. A season at home was 
never enjoyed more than the week or two spent with 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 327 

the loved ones immediately following this trip. I can 
never forget the sweet associations of this particular 
period, which seemed intended to leave a sort of flavor 
in our lives for the experiences which followed, as will 
be described in the following pages. 

After this season at home, I left for Texas. I had 
an engagement to hold a meeting just at this time for 
Rev. S. F. Brown at Osceola, Ark. ; but the Mississippi 
River was so badly blocked with ice that I could not 
make the trip, and hence, as above stated, went to 
Texas. I had no arrangement for work in Texas at 
the time ; but as I had had an invitation to Mt. Pleas- 
ant, in that State, before Conference and could not ac- 
cept, I thought it possible to get a meeting in there at 
this time. When I got off at Mt. Pleasant, however, 
the ground was covered with sleet, and the weather 
was quite cold for that country; and as our house of 
worship was not arranged for comfortable heating, the 
pastor thought it not well to try a meeting. 

While at Mt. Pleasant the presiding elder, Rev. O. P. 
Thomas, with whom I had labored before, came in 
and insisted on my going to Pittsburg, a distance of a 
few miles, where he felt sure I could get a meeting. 
This I did, and was soon in a work there which re- 
sulted in one hundred and sixty odd conversions and 
reclamations and one hundred and seventeen addi- 
tions to the Methodist Church. It was truly great! 
This opened the way for the meeting at Mt. Pleasant, 
where over a hundred more were added to our Zion. 
At Pittsburg the victory was easy ; but at Mt. Pleasant 
this was not the case, and yet it was great when 
achieved. As in all revival efforts, so in these twin 
meetings at Pittsburg and Mt. Pleasant there were 



328 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, 

both helps and hindrances. But these gave help- 
ful experience for future work. Professor Nelson 
Gilreath, of Athens, Tex., was with us part of the 
time at both these places as leader of the choir, and 
did some good work. At Pittsburg the presence of 
the "shouting banker/' Rev. Lon Morrison; whose 
home is there, was quite an inspiration, as he threw 
his whole influence into the work and didn't miss a 
single service. I think he had reason to shout at every 
service. At first he would leave the house and go 
home when he would get to shouting, but before the 
meeting closed he would remain with us. They have 
one of the best-regulated Sunday schools at Pittsburg 
it has ever been my privilege to visit, under the super- 
intendence- of Brother Abernathy, of that place. Broth- 
er Abernathy had a fine hold on the people. 

Another incident occurred here on the line of resti- 
tution. Brother Abernathy was engaged in the mercan- 
tile business. One morning a gentleman drove up to 
his store door and asked him to take a ride with him ; 
said he wanted to talk with him. Soon after they 
had started, the gentleman stated to Abernathy that 
he must go out home with him, when Abernathy in- 
sisted that he could not do this, as he was quite busy. 
The distance was two or three miles; but the gentle- 
man repeated that he must go and that he would have 
him back soon, and so drove on. They had soon 
reached his home. The gentleman stated to him that 
he had some years before swindled him out of twenty 
dollars, and that he had never been able since that 
time to enjoy religion ; that every time he got in a good 
meeting and felt like taking any part in it that trans- 
action and the twenty dollars would rise up before him 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 329 

to condemn him; and with this he counted out forty 
dollars and handed it to Abernathy, who told him that 
the original twenty would do if he felt that he ought 
to pay it now ; but the other man said that nothing less 
than double the amount would ever satisfy his con- 
science, and so insisted on his taking the amount of- 
fered. Abernathy returned and put twenty dollars of 
the amount in the missionary collection, and said he 
would hold the remaining twenty for the Lord where 
it might be needed most. 

The janitor at this church was an old man, and was 
an active worker in the meeting as well. When the 
tide was high, he had understood in some way that the 
afternoon service was to be left off one day, and there- 
fore did not ring the bell. However, on passing the 
church about the regular time for this service, and 
discovering that there were people in the church, he 
looked in, found the room crowded with worshipers, 
and exclaimed: ''Bless God, they came without the 
bell !" This created quite a ripple of amusement. This 
same old man had a next-door neighbor who was in the 
whisky business ; and becoming burdened about him in 
a special way, one day he went to his saloon, stood at 
the counter, and told the man how much interest he felt 
in him. That night this same saloon man stood on the 
platform in the meeting and declared in the presence 
of a large company that his place of business would 
not be open next morning and that he would sell no 
more whisky. At this a shout of praise went up to 
God for this deliverance, and our old janitor stated 
that if it had not been for the hope of saving his 
friend and neighbor he would not have gone into that 
saloon for a hundred dollars. 



330 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Another saloon keeper was converted in the Mt. 
Pleasant meeting. In this case the little son, probably 
not more than eight years old, had united with the 
Church. It was predicted by some that the father, 
who was doing a big whisky business, would be of- 
fended at this step on the part of the child, and would 
probably order his name taken from the Church roll; 
but, on the contrary, he became penitent himself as 
the result of this, came to the meeting, was happily- 
saved, converted his saloon building into an ice cream 
parlor, and reformed his life in every particular. These 
and other cases made a wonderful impression for good, 
and also demonstrated God's power to save to the ut- 
termost all who would come unto him. 

At the beginning of the work at Mt. Pleasant I was 
called home by telegram to the bedside of my sick 
wife before I had myself been in a single service, al- 
though the pastor had begun the work. When I 
reached home I found Mrs. Kilgore better, and she in- 
sisted on my returning to my meeting, which I did. 
We had just begun to get the work under good head- 
way when I was telegraphed for again, and again my 
wife was soon better and I returned to the meeting; 
but the train that brought me in this time carried our 
singer out, and thus it seemed that fate was against 
us. By this time the pastor had become discouraged, 
and no wonder, with all of these drawbacks. But 
that very day the work took a deeper and stronger 
hold, and it was soon evident that the Lord was going 
to give us great victory, which he did, as another week 
had not ended before (added to what had already been 
done) the Lord had given more than a hundred and 
fifty souls for our hire, and more than a hundred of 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young P readier. 331 

these had joined the Methodist Church. Rev. Albert 
Little was our pastor here, and he and his people were 
happy. I was entertained in Brother Little's home, and 
learned to love him very much. His amiable wife and 
sweet daughter also did what they could to make my 
stay with them pleasant, and they are still remembered 
with gratitude. A good man was in charge of our 
Church at Pittsburg at the time of the meeting there. 
God had given him a noble little wife and two sweet 
children, and he seemed to have a bright future ; but he 
was afterwards drawn away and made shipwreck of 
the faith even before his pastorate was closed at this 
place. I am informed that he has since been reinstated. 
The meeting over, I returned home again. Wife 
was still in the grasp of the fever which had held her 
fast for sixty-six days, with but little intermission; 
and in her case this was but the beginning of the end. 
She was never well again. Although she remained 
with us two years, yet it was only to waste away 
gradually with that dread disease, consumption. How- 
ever, she was able to be up and was frequently 
with me in the work until within four months of 
the end. After a few weeks at home waiting on my 
wife until she was up again, I went to Greenville, Tex., 
to arrange for a home there, as we had decided to 
change places again, with the hope of benefiting wife's 
health and otherwise bettering our condition. Our 
plans were all soon completed, and we were ready 
for the change. But of this I shall give the reader more 
in the next chapter. We had some good friends at 
Searcy we were sorry to have to leave; but circum- 
stances seemed to indicate the propriety of the move. 
So we were off. 



CHAPTER LIX. 
Move to Greenville, Tex. 

Our plans were arranged hurriedly in making our 
move from Searcy, Ark., as I had been greatly hin- 
dered in my work already on account of sickness, thus 
causing financial loss as well as other drawbacks. 
I was therefore the more anxious to get to work 
again, as I was not able to be entirely idle, having 
had so much sickness already. Thus moving hur- 
riedly, everything was not well equipped for the 
change, and hence there were hitches in the journey 
which were both unpleasant and expensive. Among 
other things, we were caused to miss connection at 
Xexarkana, which cost us heavily there and also 
brought us to our destination in the night, which caused 
additional expense. But such things are incident to a 
lifetime, and must be borne when they come. Job said : 
"Shall we receive good at the hands of God, and not 
receive evil?" Life is a mixed cup, and I suppose it 
is well that it is so. We would cling to this world too 
much if it were otherwise. As has already been seen 
in former pages, these disappointments and things that 
sometimes seem afflictive are only connecting links be- 
tween occasions of a more pleasant character, and pre- 
pare us for greater usefulness in future work. Thus 
it proved in the above case. We were soon in Green- 
ville and comfortably quartered. 

Accompanied by Brother J. F. Anderson, I was soon 
(332) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 333 

off for Bridgeport to fill an engagement with Brother 
Bounds. Bridgeport is a mining town, and was consid- 
ered tough, and I suppose it was ; but, as Providence 
would have it, I had secured the very man to help us 
there — one who seemed specially adapted to work 
among that class of people. Not that Brother Anderson 
was so rough himself; but having been in the saloon 
business sixteen years, he would naturally know more 
about how to approach all classes of people, and espe- 
cially such as are overlooked, as a rule, by others ; and 
this he did most efficiently during this meeting. He 
planned the campaign wisely, and then executed his 
own plans quite successfully. At least a hundred re- 
ported themselves saved, and almost as many united 
with the Churches. A little Cumberland Presbyterian 
preacher was also with us, and assisted Brother An- 
derson very greatly in his part of the work. It must 
be remembered here that Brother Anderson was not 
a licensed minister, but only a courageous, consecrated 
layman. 

There was an extraordinarily large man among the 
miners they called "Jumbo," who seemed to have a 
large influence among his fellows. Brother Anderson 
struck for "Jumbo" the first one ; and when he got him, 
the above results were soon accomplished. I made 
one visit to the shaft. I went down and then out 
through the subterranean alleys, where men were at 
work, probably a hundred and fifty feet below the 
earth's surface, and shook hands with the men and in- 
vited them to the meeting; and they came. In the 
mine while at their work they w r ere smutty and greasy ; 
but when out and dressed in their Sunday clothes some 
of them were really handsome, and in every way good 



334 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

specimens of manhood. We found that some of them 
represented some of the best families of the older 
States, and some of them were quite well educated, 
having gone there and into that line of work for 
the money there was in it. It seemed quite a paying 
business, but of course was attended with constant 
danger. These men and their families seemed to great- 
ly appreciate our efforts to save them, or the interest 
we took in them, and tried to evidence their apprecia- 
tion in various ways. Our stay there was in every 
way pleasant, and we felt the better prepared for fu- 
ture work when the meeting was over. 

Some things in all lines of work, I suppose, leave a 
more lasting impression than others. In the above 
meeting a young man among the miners was converted, 
went to his room, wrote to his mother in Alabama, 
and wound up his letter with the following language : 
"Your prayers have been answered, although I'm a 
thousand miles from home. I've been saved, and am 
to-day a member of the Methodist Church and on my 
way to glory." Brother Anderson secured a copy of 
this letter and sent it to the Texas Christian Advocate 
for publication. 

Many other interesting incidents occurred in connec- 
tion with this remarkable meeting; but I pause only 
to mention one more. There was an old brother who 
seemed very fond of talking in a testimony meeting, 
and would usually occupy the greater part of the time 
allotted to this part of the worship. We had tried to 
hold him down or in some way cut him short in his 
testimony, which was generally about the same story 
over and over ; but we had failed to be able to do this. 
One day there was a downpour of rain during the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 335 

service. This old brother got the floor, and I thought 
it a good time to let him have his say out, as we could 
not get home anyway until the rain ceased; so, with 
as much encouragement as was necessary, I let him 
go on. It would be a little difficult to estimate the 
length of his talk. Preachers who have conducted re- 
vivals know something about such things. There are 
some people in most congregations who never know 
when to stop when they are given an opportunity to 
talk — often, too, they are people who do not help a 
meeting by talking at all. This was not the case with 
this old brother. He was deeply pious, and had a good 
influence in the community, but was simply "long- 
metered" when in a meeting. After the service re- 
ferred to above was over and we were walking away 
from the tent (it was a tent meeting), the Cumberland 
Presbyterian preacher with us, who seemed to have 
been a little impatient (the old brother referred to was 
a member of his Church), said to me: "Brother Kil- 
gore, how do you ever manage such cases as this?" 
My answer was : *T just let them talk on until they are 
through if it is raining, so that we have to remain at 
the church anyway." This seemed to amuse the broth- 
er very much. 

The meeting over at Bridgeport, Brother Anderson 
and the writer went direct to Denton, Tex., for an- 
other meeting before returning home. We were 
entertained there by a Mr. Kimbrough, and had 
a very pleasant time during our stay. Our meeting 
here was also held in a tent, and was a good one. The 
attendance was very large, and a goodly number were 
saved and added to the Church. It was here that 
Brother Anderson came into the experience of sanctifi- 



336 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

cation, and he has ever since been clear in his testimony 
as to the experience. The doctrine of sanctification 
has always been stressed more or less in our meetings ; 
but I have never been as clear as I probably ought to 
have been in pressing the experience. But not so with 
Brother Anderson. He is very clear, and makes it very 
plain. The doctrine is one thing, and the experience 
is quite another. One thing has always stood in my 
way of publicly professing this as a personal experi- 
ence, and I have sometimes thought that the devil was 
probably using this as a tool to keep me from doing 
the good I might have done by being clear. I have 
known definitely what this experience was for more 
than eight years; but I had gotten behind financially, 
and, owing to continued sickness in my home (of which 
more will be written hereafter) , I have never been able 
to catch up, and have always felt that if I should tes- 
tify to this high and holy experience people would take 
advantage of it and say : "Why don't he pay his debts ?" 
Thus the cause would be damaged rather than helped. 
Of course I have known all the while that there would 
be no justice in this accusation on the part of the ene- 
my, as I have never seen the day when I would let the 
sun go down on my debts if I could command the cash 
to pay them off ; but this has not been the case, and thus 
it has probably been used by the enemy to prevent my 
doing a greater amount of good. 

At Denton we were associated with that stalwart 
Christian gentleman, Mr. J. B. Collins, a consecrated 
layman in the M. E. Church, who helped us along the 
way. Such men in the Church are a tower of strength 
for good. Rev. J. F. Pierce was our pastor here. He 
is a strong Christian character. He is a descendant of 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 337 

the Pierce family of Georgia, and partakes of the char- 
acter of the fathers. 

The work ended at Denton, I was soon at home 
again to enjoy another sweet season of rest with the 
loved ones. 

This time the Greenville District Conference held 
its session at Nevada, Tex., and I ran down and spent 
a day or two with the brethren. On Saturday after- 
noon of the Conference the Epworth League was given 
an hour, and the meeting was led by a young man I 
had never met before. He was rather tall, with a 
good, open countenance ; he had an honest face, and I 
thought was rather handsome, and was endowed with 
a remarkably good voice, being a leader in the service 
of song. I inquired of a friend sitting near me as to 
who this young man was, and was informed that his 
name was Ed Phillips and that he was one of the Ne- 
vada boys and was preparing for the ministry. With 
this I sought and obtained an introduction to him. and 
asked him if he would not like to join me in some meet- 
ings as chorister. His reply was that he could not, as 
he had promised his pastor. Rev. C. I. McWhirter, to 
help him in his meetings. Later, however, he wrote 
me that after considering the matter more carefully 
he had decided to go with me some. We were asso- 
ciated in the work from time to time for nearly three 
years, of which I may give frequent notes on future 
pages. Suffice it to say here that, as in all things 
when I have trusted him for guidance, I believe the 
Lord's hand was in the bringing us together in this 
work. I only fear that we often failed to recognize 
the hand of Providence in such things as much as we 
might, and in this way missed the blessings intended. 
22 



CHAPTER LX. 

Kansas Camp Meetings. 

Arrangements were made in the beginning of this 
year while in Nebraska with Rev. T. C. Downs, pre- 
siding elder of the Atchison District, Western Confer- 
ence, for some camp meeting work in his territory 
during the early summer, and the time was now up. 
The first engagement was at Arrington, Kans., and 
our route was over the Cotton Belt to Fort Worth, 
thence over the Santa Fe via Oklahoma City, Wichita, 
and Topeka to Valley Falls, Kans., and thence by pri- 
vate conveyance to the camp, thus bringing us through 
a very rich section of country and giving us the privi- 
lege for the first time of seeing the proud capital of 
Kansas. I do not now recall whether the District Con- 
ference was connected with this camp meeting or not, 
but the district was well represented by the preachers in 
the beginning of its history, and some of them remained 
almost through the meeting. I am inclined to think, 
however, as my recollection serves me, that it was only 
a camp meeting occasion. The results of the work 
here were not as large as at some other places ; still the 
meeting was by no means a failure, as more than forty 
persons united with our Church — and this, too, with 
as tremendous an influence against the cause of Chris- 
tianity as I had ever found in any place. Infidelity 
was rife. There was an old man living just on the 
hill overlooking the camp ground whose name was 

(338) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 339 

Van Winkle, and they had dubbed him "Uncle Rip;" 
and he was a pretty good representation, in physical 
form at least, of the idea I had formed of "Rip Van 
Winkle" in other days. I will not attempt a descrip- 
tion of him here, however, as different persons form 
different opinions about people and things, and the pic- 
tures drawn in the mind are often disappointing when 
the real is presented. But the man of whom I write 
here was a pronounced infidel, and had quite a fol- 
lowing in his section. I conversed with him fre- 
quently while there, and my conclusion was that he 
came as near being a real infidel as any man I had 
ever met. In fact, he had, I think, made such an effort 
on that line all his life that he hardly believed any- 
thing. One day in conversation he had just taken the 
position that there was no such thing as "up and 
down," that such things were only imaginary; and in 
the next moment, in speaking of some ailment he had, 
he said he fell down and hurt himself, when I re- 
minded him that he must be mistaken, that "there was 
no such thing as down." He replied with some evi- 
dent excitement: "No, there isn't; it's all in the imagi- 
nation." Thus he was wasting his life disputing 
about nothing. As already suggested, he wielded an 
influence and had a following. I approached one of his 
disciples one afternoon and told him I felt an interest 
in him and had felt it my duty to manifest this inter- 
est in this way, and that I hoped he would take it kind- 
ly at least, as I only wished him well. He said : "Cer- 
tainly ; but it is very presumptuous in you to be trying 
to push your views of things off on other people." T 
told him I only wished to present Christ to him; and 
asked him if he did not believe, according to the rec- 



340 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ord, that Christ was at least a good man. His reply was 
that he thought him to have been a "miserable, dirty 
tramp." I then asked him if he did not believe the 
Bible to be the word of God — an inspired book. He 
said: "No more so than an almanac." I was here re- 
minded that the Master had said : "Give not that which 
is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls be- 
fore swine." So I turned from him and walked away. 
But, with all these adverse influences, our meeting was 
successful, as shown above. 

This camp ground was located near a bluff on Grass- 
hopper River, and near by at the crossing there was 
a large water mill. The milldam was built of huge 
rocks forming a perpendicular wall on the lower side 
eight or ten feet in height, which made a considerable 
waterfall, especially in time of high waters. A lit- 
tle while before the meeting a party of pleasure seek- 
ers were there boating above the dam, and in a spirit 
of fun allowed their boat to approach too near this 
waterfall, when they could no longer control it, and 
as a consequence were swept over the dam and dashed 
to death on the rocks below. So it is with those who 
give themselves over to the pleasures of this world. 
Ofttimes such persons are at an unexpected moment 
hurled into eternity without preparation. 

But I mentioned the presence of this river to relate 
a circumstance of quite a different character. Toward 
the close of our camp meeting two young ladies gave 
their names for membership in the Church with the re- 
quest to be baptized by immersion. As the pastor was 
an undergraduate in the Conference, I had agreed 
to attend to this work for him, and announced the 
service for 9 a.m. on the day following the close of 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 341 

the meeting. It was placed after the meeting in 
order that any others who might wish to be bap- 
tized in this way might have an opportunity to come in 
with them. After midnight on the morning the 
baptizing was to take place I had a nervous rigor 
(probably the result of overwork), which lasted two 
or three hours. I thought my time had about come, 
but I felt better when the rigor was gone. I did not 
get up for breakfast, as I did not feel well enough to 
do so; but when the hour was near at hand for the 
girls to be baptized, I arose and dressed for the 
occasion, feeling as I did that some one would proba- 
bly be ready to say that I had simply claimed to be 
sick in order to avoid this work. When the time was 
up and we were at the river's brink, I thought that, 
as it was some distance from the bank to the deep 
water — that is, deep enough to baptize in — I would 
take both the young ladies in with me at once, so as 
to avoid a second trip. But when I had immersed one 
of them, she became so frightened, although the work 
had been easily done, that she would not allow me to 
turn her loose while I administered the ordinance 
to the other. So I was compelled to make the trip with 
her to the bank and leave the other standing in the 
water until I could return. She, too, seemed fright- 
ened almost to death at having to be left for the time ; 
so I was grateful, and I suppose they were glad, when 
it was all over. The people seemed pleased that I had 
gotten through at all without drowning the whole 
company. With this the meeting was over, and I was 
soon on board the train speeding away toward Hills- 
dale, Kans., where the next camp meeting was to be 
held the following week, and the time seemed long. 



342 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Hillsdale is on the Kansas City, Memphis & Bir- 
mingham Railroad, thirty miles south of Kansas City, 
and is in a fine section of farming country. They 
had the best-arranged camp I had seen in the bounds 
of the Western Conference; and while the number 
of tenters was not large, still there were enough 
to take care of all who came to the camp to 
stay, and there was a large "restaurant" kept where 
all could take their meals. This was patronized even 
by some of the tent holders. The ministers were fed 
at this stand free, while meals were served to others at 
very low rates. The fare was good. The restaurant 
was run by Brother Weaver, of the M. E. Church. 
We called him "Uncle Billie." He was a noble, good 
fellow, and he and I got to be right "chummy" while 
I was there. Brother Downs, the presiding elder, 
tented at this camp himself, and I found his family 
very pleasant indeed. I found a few colored people 
at this camp who worshiped with the white folks. The 
negroes all sat in a company in the congregation out 
in front of the stand and a little to the preacher's right, 
and they would speak in the testimony meetings 
and come forward to shake hands with the minister 
when a proposition was made to the Church. I had 
never seen it exactly on this wise before, and it was 
a little difficult at first for me to adapt myself to the 
situation. I was informed that there were not enough 
of them in the community to have a church of their 
own, and that they were therefore allowed to worship 
with the whites. I thought this perfectly right under 
such circumstances, and felt glad to see them enjoy the 
meeting. I did not remain till the close, but was there 
long enough to witness a good work. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 343 

Among the converts of the meeting up to the time 
I left I remember a Air. Hampson. He was a wealthy 
farmer and ranchman, so I was informed, and had 
been quite wicked ; but as our work progressed he 
became interested. Uncle Billie Weaver was the first 
to discover this, and remarked to me one day after 
dinner that he believed Mr. Hampson was interested. 
He asked me to keep an eye on him, and if there 
seemed any hope of saving him to try to follow up 
and cultivate as far as might be convenient or possi- 
ble any good impressions that seemed to be made on 
him. That afternoon during the sermon Mr. Hamp- 
son sat where I could see him easily. I was encour- 
aged enough when the sermon was over to go to him 
and ask him if he did not want to be a Christian. He 
was greatly moved ; and when I invited him to 
the altar with me, he arose and without a word went 
and got on his knees at the place of prayer, and very 
soon gave his heart to God. This all made a fine im- 
pression for good on others, as he had a large influ- 
ence in that community and would naturally have a 
good following in this new movement on his part. It 
was almost a year later when I received a letter from 
Rev. H. D. Hogan, who lived in that community, stat- 
ing that all the converts were holding out faithfully 
and that the Hampsons were pillars in the Church. 
I thanked God for the little part I may have had in 
bringing about this change in his life. 

My work here for the time was now accomplished, 
and I was soon at home again to prepare for work in 
other fields. Many things connected with this visit to 
Kansas in the work of the Lord will be treasured up 
as among the pleasant reminiscences of life. 



344 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

My next meeting was at Mt. Vernon, Tex., with Rev. 
J. H. Hunter, where I was joined in the work by Broth- 
er Ed Phillips as "singer." We were entertained while 
here in the pleasant home of Dr. Fleming, and were 
treated right royally by all the people. The Lord gave 
us a decided victory here, and a large number were 
added to the Church. We left Brother Hunter and his 
people happy. I found Brother Hunter to be a noble, 
good fellow and very easy to work with. He made one 
feel perfectly at home in his meeting, and hence there 
was perfect harmony, which naturally left pleasant rec- 
ollections. I should be glad to see this dear man of God 
again and join him in another meeting like this. 

When through at Mt. Vernon we went to Com- 
merce, Tex., to assist Rev. C. B. Thomas in a meeting; 
and also found him possessed of a very genial spirit. 
We were with him two weeks; and while the results 
were not as large as desired, still some good was 
accomplished. This was a tent meeting, and we wit- 
nessed rather a novel sight here — that of fifty-one men 
kneeling at the altar as penitents at one time, and not 
a single lady. This was more or less the case through 
the entire meeting. We did not witness so very many 
conversions ; still there was a very good ingathering 
to the Church. Rev. F. A. Taylor was with us in this 
meeting, and did some able preaching and fine work. 

After this we went to Arkadelphia, Ark., to help 
Brother Godden, where a good work was accomplished 
and a large class received into the Church; but the 
work here did not accomplish all we had desired. 
Our stay in Brother Godden's home was exceed- 
ingly pleasant. Sister Godden is a Jewess, but is a 
beautiful Christian character, and has made Broth- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 345 

er Godden a most estimable wife and companion in the 
work. Godden is truly a man of deep piety and scru- 
pulous integrity. There were some influences here to 
overcome which were more formidable of the kind 
than we had ever found at any other time or place. 
One of these was the cigarette habit among the young 
men and boys. This was practiced to an alarming ex- 
tent. Before the services when the people were assem- 
bling for worship and when the service was over and 
they were passing out there was invariably a large 
crowd about the doors sending up a perfect cloud 
of smoke, and the fumes of the tobacco would be 
wafted in by the breezes all the way to the pulpit. This 
was continued until the ministers were compelled to pay 
their respects to the practice in more ways than one. 
The people seemed convinced that the foundation was 
being laid by these boys for lives of dissipation ; hence 
a stronger effort was made to rescue them, which evi- 
dently resulted in great good for a time at least. 

Another trouble we found here was a spirit of rival- 
ry between two colleges representing different Church- 
es, which had almost developed into personal animosi- 
ties. This should always be very carefully guarded 
against in our denominational schools, as such a spirit 
is very hurtful to the cause as well as to the communi- 
ties in which it exists, and sometimes ends in disturb- 
ances the evil effects of which remain in a town or 
community for years afterwards. I am glad to record 
here, however, that this spirit was abated in the above- 
named place without such results as are here men- 
tioned. The schools in Arkadelphia are in many par- 
ticulars equal to any other schools in the land for the 
good they are doing. We found this especially true of 



346 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Arkadelphia Methodist College during the time it was 
our privilege to patronize- it. 

While in Arkansas on this round I also held meet- 
ings at New Louisville and Forrest City. Brother 
Phillips was not with me at these two places, however, 
as he was otherwise engaged. Brother McCabe was 
in charge of the Methodist Church at New Louisville, 
and I found him a good yokefellow in the gospel. My 
home while there was at Brother Nance's, which I 
found to be a very sweet home indeed. The results were 
not large here ; still a good class was received into the 
Church — more than twenty in number. It was here, 
however, that I got a straight-out cursing on the start 
for having preached the truth. On Monday night I 
had preached on the evil results of the modern dance. 
On the following Friday morning I was walking in 
town in company with Brother Cason, presiding elder 
of the district. Passing in front of a store, Brother 
Cason turned in, saying he wanted to make some pur- 
chases while there, and as he passed in spoke to a man 
standing near the door, who returned the compliment. 
I then spoke to him also, but he replied to me: "I am 
not making any new acquaintances." I said, "All 
right," and started in myself, thinking that he possibly 
supposed that I had planned a talk with him and that 
he didn't care to be bothered ; and as he was a perfect 
stranger to me, I did not care to trouble him further. 
But I had scarcely turned when he began to curse me — 
called me all sorts of ugly things, with bitter oaths — 
and had his knife in his hand whittling vigorously. I 
stood still and looked at him, having turned facing 
him, and when he had subsided a little I asked him 
coolly if he was through, and with this he cursed again. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 347 

I then told him that I felt that I was as much of a 
Christian gentleman then as before he cursed me. He 
then replied that he had his opinion about this, when 
I reminded him very coolly that his opinion didn't 
change the thing at all, that his opinion amounted to 
very little in this matter anyway. He was cursing me 
for having preached against the dance; but this curs- 
ing did not stop me from the business. The presiding 
elder remarked as we walked away that I certainly 
had more religion than he had, as he felt that he would 
have worn out the ground with that fellow if it had 
been possible. I told him that I had never specially 
coveted the reputation of a fighting preacher, and that 
even if I had I would not care to secure it by a fight 
with such a fellow as this. When the affair was noised 
abroad, the people seemed very much incensed at his 
vicious act, and were planning an indignation meeting ; 
but I asked them not to do anything of the sort, telling 
them that the poor deluded fellow would get the worst 
of it anyway if he did not change his life, which I 
hoped, however, he would do. Thus the unpleasant 
episode was passed, and no further harm done. I 
passed the fellow several times on the streets after this, 
but no words were passed. Some of his friends said, 
however, that they thought he was very sorry for his 
rude conduct, but that he did not have courage or man- 
hood enough about him to come to me and apologize. 
This I did not care for him to do, though, only in so 
far as it might go toward saving him. 

As above intimated, when this meeting had closed 
I went to Forrest City to help Rev. F. E. Taylor, and 
our meeting there proved to be one of the most suc- 
cessful of the season. This was mv third revival at 



348 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Forrest City, and the meetings came in the order of 
good, better, best — "the best of the wine at the last 
of the feast." A good, large class was received into 
the Church — and this, too, of the very best element of 
the town. The town was mightily stirred. There was 
a political campaign on in the State and county, and 
excitement on this line had been running high. But 
the meeting got such a sweep in the town that all other 
things seemed for the time forgotten. During the 
closing days of our work there some one met Colonel 
Izard on the street and asked him how politics was 
running, and his answer was that he hadn't heard poli- 
tics mentioned in ten days. The good people here did 
not forget to express their appreciation of my 
work in a substantial way. While their liberality 
was not large, they contributed more cheerfully 
than some other places that were much more able 
than they. Indeed, if other places had offered compen- 
sation for my work even in approximate proportion to 
Forrest City, there would never have been the financial 
pressure and sometimes embarrassment in my life as 
has been the case. I shall ever remember with special 
gratitude those who have remembered me. I was en- 
tertained at the parsonage while in Forrest City, and 
never was time spent more pleasantly from a social 
standpoint. Brother Taylor himself was always brim- 
ful of innocent fun, and every member of his house- 
hold was a facsimile of the father on this line — "a 
chip off the old block." Theirs was truly a home filled 
with social sunshine, or at least I found it so. I give 
all the praise to the Lord, however, for the success 
which attended my labors here. 

Of course my visits home must be as frequent as 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 349 

possible, and especially so now, as we had succeeded 
in securing a three-acre lot in the suburbs of Green- 
ville on which a house was being built for a residence ; 
and as we were anxious to move into it at the earliest 
possible convenience, the work must be pushed to com- 
pletion. 

My next meeting was at Marshall. It will no doubt 
be understood that hundreds of intervening things hap- 
pened which can never be written, as I am only 
touching the high places as I pass along. Brother 
Phillips joined me again at Marshall, where we 
united our forces for a successful battle with sin and 
Satan. Rev. J. T. Smith was our pastor there at the 
time. He is meek as a lamb, and yet courageous as a 
lion. With such a pastor as this to back me and a well- 
organized choir, with a good leader, such as Brother 
Phillips always proved himself to be, ana with other 
helps which could be mentioned, the results of the 
work here were far from being what I had hoped 
to make them by the help of the Lord. "A great and 
effectual door was opened unto me, and there were 
many adversaries." The "social club" craze was on 
there in "good style." This was especially true of the 
women. It was here one afternoon that sixty-six 
women met in one home for a "progressive euchre 
party," and next morning the city dailies came out with 
a full column under great headlines, giving a descrip- 
tion of the occasion in detail, even as to the style 
of costume worn by each lady. These same dailies 
had not up to this time given an inch of space to our 
meeting. In the account given of this party it was 
stated that Mrs. A won the first prize, while Mrs. B 
and Mrs. C had tied for the second prize, and Miss D 



350 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

had secured the third prize — straight-out gambling- 
among the women. This party embraced one of the 
hours for our religious service at the church. No 
wonder there were organized "clubs" for the young 
men, and "clubs" for young women, and "clubs" for 
old men, and "clubs" for children in a town where 
the wives and mothers led the way and set the exam- 
ple. With such influences to combat, it would be diffi- 
cult to have success anywhere. Still our meeting was 
not an entire failure here by any means. The inter- 
est increased and the work continued until a good 
class had been received, and among them some of the 
leaders. Besides this, some old troubles which had been 
disturbing the Church were settled. A sermon was 
preached on forgiving our enemies on Sunday morn- 
ing, and on the following Monday morning Mr. John- 
son, a leading merchant, watched for his neighbor mer- 
chant to open his store door, and when this was done 
went at once to speak to him for the first time in twelve 
years. They had lived in the same town and all this 
time engaged in the same line of business without 
any touch with each other in any particular; but 
on this Monday morning the whole matter was set- 
tled, and they were ever afterwards good friends. Such 
are the results of a good meeting. 

Rounding up favorably at Marshall, we next 
filled an engagement at Jefferson, Tex., where we 
spent ten days in total defeat so far as visible results 
were concerned. Brother Whitehurst was the pastor 
here, and was truly a good man and loved by his peo- 
ple ; but there were other influences against us that we 
were never able to overcome. Quite an amusing inci- 
dent occurred in the social circle while we were here. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 351 

We were all sitting in the family room at our board- 
ing place one afternoon when a lady came in and our 
hostess was introducing her. Brother Phillips had been 
engaged in reading and was still holding his book, 
when our hostess said to her friend : "That is Mr. Phil- 
lips with a book in his hand." Brother Phillips arose 
and bowed very politely, saying: "Good afternoon, 
Sister Bookingham." The name of the lady who was 
being introduced was Wilson ; but Brother Phillips did 
not wait for the name, thinking the lady had said Book- 
ingham, when she said "with a book in his hand." He 
saw his mistake at once, however, and was greatly em- 
barrassed. There was not a single addition to the 
Church in the above meeting or any other good accom- 
plished that we could see; hence we closed and were 
soon off to our homes again. 

About this time our new home was completed, and 
the "dear ones" had moved in and were very comfort- 
ably quartered. The home was very nice indeed and 
quite convenient in every way. My wife and children 
never seemed so happy as then. Wife had had the 
house built and arranged according to her own notions, 
and had shown excellent taste. 

El Paso and Old Mexico. 

When things had all been properly adjusted at 
home, I started on another trip to hold the closing meet- 
ing of the year at El Paso, Tex. The journey was a 
long one. I was again accompanied by Brother An- 
derson, who had been with me earlier in the year at 
Bridgeport and Denton. En route to El Paso we 
stopped off at A.bilene, and rode out a distance of 



352 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

twenty-eight miles and returned the same day, mak- 
ing the full distance fifty-six miles. The purpose of 
this visit to the country was to see my sister and her 
family, who lived near Anson ; but we had no idea of 
the distance or we would never have started, as it was 
the Sabbath and we were compelled to return to meet 
the first train in order to use the special rate tickets 
we had secured for the trip. We were informed that 
it was only a little way out from Abilene, and could 
learn nothing definite until most of the distance going 
had been traveled. We had only one hour to spend 
with sister after reaching her home. The trip was 
quite tiresome ; and when over we continued our jour- 
ney to El Paso. 

Rev. C. J. Oxley was in charge of our Church at 
El Paso. He is, I may say, in many respects rather a 
wonderful man. He is an Englishman by birth, and 
bears all the marks peculiar to his nationality. He is 
a man of quick and clear discernment, and is possessed 
of a superabundance of moral courage as well as con- 
victions of right on all moral questions. He counted 
nothing success in the work that did not measure up 
in every particular to his idea of the genuine, and 
would accept nothing short of this. Under such leader- 
ship his people had been brought up to high-water 
mark in the Christian experience and in Church work. 
His own personal experience as to conversion and 
sanctification was very clear, and he endeavored to 
bring others to the same high plane of profession. 

El Paso was one of the wickedest places I had ever 
visited. Being a border town, all the toughs of Ameri- 
ca and Mexico seemed to have concentrated there ; and 
hence there was wickedness in high places and low 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 353 

places. Many people were as vile as vile could be ; and 
yet in the face of all this, Brother Oxley's Church was 
one of the most thoroughly religious I have ever seen. 
It was a custom for young men and young women, as 
well as older ones, to drop on their knees and engage 
in a season of prayer when they entered the house of 
worship ; and then with shining faces they would tes- 
tify to Christ's power to save to the uttermost, and were 
by their testimonies a perpetual inspiration to their 
pastor and the leaders. It is a rare treat to worship 
with such a congregation. 

Another thing noted in this Church was the work 
of Christian men and women of the first rank, young 
and old, in rescuing the fallen. It was interest- 
ing indeed to see young ladies of the best homes — 
Christian girls — go down in the slums to save their 
sisters who had been drawn away and whom society 
would no longer recognize. We met some who were 
themselves among the Christian workers who had been 
thus saved ; and we thought of the great contrast there 
was between this and some things we had witnessed 
in other places, where the women of the Church seemed 
to imagine that the whole cause would be dishonored 
if one such should be received among them. However, 
we felt sure we could see more of the spirit of the 
Master manifested in the conduct of the El Paso Chris- 
tians than at these other places. 

With such a backing as we had here, as described 
above, the reader will not be astonished when I tell him 
that our meeting was successful. Brother Anderson 
did some fine work here. On the first day we spent in 
El Paso Brother Anderson was strolling on the streets, 
and as he was passing some men one of them said, 
23 



354 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

"Hello ! There's old Jim Anderson." He told Brother 
Anderson that he had visited his saloon at Greenville 
many a time. Brother Anderson replied : "Yes ; that's 
the way." He said that he could never get away from 
the influence of his old life; that he thought he would 
get away over there, almost in Mexico, where no one 
would know him; but that after running a miserable, 
dirty saloon, with all the attachments the devil could 
suggest, he ought not really to expect to get where he 
could hide. He said that a dog's tail would always 
follow him, and that he supposed it would always be so 
in his case, but that he intended as far as possible to try 
to undo what he had done and at least, if no more, give 
the remainder of his days to Christ. He is doing this 
in the fullest sense of the word. 

On the last night of the meeting at El Paso two 
preachers came into the work who were both members 
of the New Mexico Conference. At the close of the 
service, which had been one of the very best, one of 
the visiting ministers, who was a sanctified preacher 
and who has since joined the Army of Evangelists and 
is doing a great and good work in the West, ap- 
proached me, saying he once knew a preacher in Mis- 
sissippi by my name. I told him I was from Mississip- 
pi, when he said that the one he knew was a young 
preacher. I told him that I was once a young preach- 
er. He then asked me if I had ever preached at Mc- 
Condy, Miss. I told him I had served as pastor there 
three years. He then threw his arms around me, and 
said: "Bless the Lord, you received me into the 
Church!" I thanked God then and do now for help- 
ing me to start this wave for good in the far West. 

The meeting closed at El Paso, and I went home. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 355 

It may probably be remembered that it was at El Paso, 
or just across the river from there, in Old Mexico, 
that I was once robbed. But the Lord had now let me 
go back to the same spot to do some work for him, 
and had crowned this work with rich results. This 
was the last meeting of the year, as I reached home 
on Christmas day to rest one week, and then launched 
forth for what proved to be probably the most success- 
ful season of my whole career as a Christian minister. 
But I shall write later of this and of the other things 
of the year, which were mixed up with sadness as well, 
for there must be bitter as well as sweet in everv life. 



CHAPTER LXI. 

Revivals of 1896. 

On the closing night of the old year I took part in 
a watch night service at Wesley Chapel Church in the 
city of Greenville, Tex., which was the most satis- 
factory service of the kind I had ever attended. It 
was led by that wide-awake presiding elder, Rev. W. 
M. P. Rippey, who seemed to throw his whole soul 
into the service. Just as the bells began to ring 
out the old year and ring in the new Brother Rip- 
pey offered a very fervent prayer, and made a 
special prayer for me in my work, that the Lord 
would crown my labors during the new year with 
success. Somehow I believed then that this prayer 
would be answered; and it was most abundantly, 
as will be seen in perusing these pages. On New 
Year's night I began a meeting with Rev. C. I. Mc- 
Whirter at Nevada, Tex., which lasted two weeks, and 
which was crowned with the conversion of one hundred 
and sixty-five souls and over a hundred additions to 
the Methodist Church. This was the beginning of a 
succession of victories. From the start, however, suc- 
cess did not seem possible. New Year's day and the 
two following days were beautiful and bright — looked 
like springtime had come. The farmers went to plow- 
ing vigorously, and everything else seemed in motion ; 
hence our attendance at the meeting was quite small. 
This was especially true of the day services. A cot- 

(356) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 357 

tage prayer meeting had been announced for the 
first afternoon with Brother Rollow, whose home 
seemed always open for such things. When the time 
came, Sister Rollow, Dr. Brockman (an old superan- 
nuated preacher), the singer, and I were all who 
were present. Brother Ed Phillips was our leader in 
song again, as this was his home. It was through his 
influence that this place had been opened for this early 
meeting. 

Seeing that we had failed to reach the people by 
means of the cottage meeting, I told Brother Phillips 
we would hold a meeting downtown the next after- 
noon, if an office or vacant storehouse could be se- 
cured for the purpose ; and although he expressed 
a degree of skepticism as to the probable success of 
this new movement, still, as I insisted on trying the 
experiment, he secured the place, an office which 
opened right on the sidewalk on the main street of 
the town, and the service was accordingly announced. 
The people were earnestly solicited to attend, especial- 
ly the Christian workers and those who could sing 
or take any part in the service; but when the hour 
came only a few were present, and Brother Phillips 
himself was not there. He was near enough, how- 
ever, to hear the singing when we began the service, 
and soon came in, although he said afterwards and 
so testified in the meeting that he never did a thing 
that was a greater cross to him than coming into that 
meeting; it seemed so much out of the regular order 
of things that he felt embarrassed about it. But we 
had gone but a little way in the service until others 
had come, and still others who in passing had heard 
us and turned in, for the Lord had alreadv met with 



358 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

us, and had bestowed a great blessing on some, so 
that shouts of praise were heard and "great grace was 
upon us all." There was.no further difficulty in get- 
ting the people to attend the services at the church, 
nor was it necessary to hold another service down- 
town. They came to us, and the church was filled at 
nearly all the services. Even the afternoon services, 
which were held at the church after this, were largely 
attended, and there was the presence of convicting 
and converting power at every coming together. One 
other discouragement had confronted us just at the 
beginning, however, which was also soon overcome. 
There was a large school in session there at the time, 
but they paid no attention to us at first, as the teach- 
ers themselves were not much in sympathy with the 
Church or religion. We knew that to get a hold 
on the young people would go far toward victory in 
the work in hand, and so we visited the school, but 
seemed to make very little impression. However, 
we were specially attentive to those who did come 
from the school, and the numbers soon increased 
until finally the meeting got such a hold that the 
teachers were forced to recognize the meeting and 
come themselves or lose their school for the time, 
as the pupils were remaining at home from school to 
attend the meeting. In this connection an amusing 
incident occurred which gave the brethren something 
to laugh about. I was invited to take suppeY in a 
home, and while there awaiting the announcement of 
the evening meal I asked a young man present, who 
was hardly grown, if he was attending our meeting. 
He replied that he was not; that he was trying to 
"get knowledge." I told him if he would come 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 359 

around we might be able to teach him some knowl- 
edge that would make him wise unto salvation, when 
he said that he was talking about such knowledge 
as he could get in school, that we had never studied 
anything but to preach. I then asked him as to 
his studies ; and when he had named them to me, 
I told him that I had gone over this very ground 
probably before he was born and had taught school 
three years, giving instruction in the same things he 
had mentioned. He said : "O, you are educated, then !" 
I told him not nearly as much as I would like to be, 
but that I had been a student a long time and was still 
trying to gather knowledge from everybody and ev- 
erything, and that I frequently got good instruction 
in the sciences and else where I had least ex- 
pected it, and that it might be so with him as he 
passed along. He came into the meeting later, was 
powerfully converted, and related what I have re- 
corded here in a testimony meeting, ridiculing himself 
for his former ideas of men and things. St. Paul tells 
us that "by faith we understand that the worlds were 
framed by the word of God." So it seems that faith 
enables us to "understand," and thus we get knowl- 
edge by believing, or at least our knowledge is 
strengthened in this way. The above was truly a 
great meeting, both as to its immediate results and its 
scope of influence through the surrounding country. 
One of the inspired writers has told us that "where 
the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty," and so I have- 
ever found it. People under such influence will laugh 
and rejoice and speak freely. In fact, all formality is 
broken and conventionalities laid aside, and there is 
a freedom that was unknown before. 



360 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

In the meeting at Muskogee, of which record has 
already been made, when we were all rejoicing one 
day and laughing in praise to God, an old brother, 
who had not been in the meeting up to this time, was 
called on to pray. He got down and asked the Lord 
to help us to be reverent in his house, which spirit 
we all indorsed, and felt that our meeting was fully in 
keeping with this sentiment, but we were happy over 
the rich results of the meeting, rejoicing over the re- 
turn of prodigals. I turned and read the one hun- 
dred and twenty-sixth Psalm and commented on it 
in justification of our behavior. "When the Lord 
turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them 
that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laugh- 
ter, and our tongue with singing." We talk about 
"apostolic succession." Here is succession that goes 
back of the apostles, away back to the days of David. 
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty ;" and 
thus it was in our meeting at Nevada, Tex. Near its 
close, one night when the house was very much 
crowded and the people had crowded in the altar dur- 
ing the after service and were standing almost as 
thick as they could, Brother McWhirter secured room 
enough in the center to show how Dr. Summers used 
to do in the Vanderbilt Chapel when the preachers 
would deliver sermons which would help him. He 
said the Doctor would move back and forth on the 
rostrum, saying: "These preachers stir me to the bot- 
tom. They stir me to the bottom." In the mean- 
time I had gotten on top of a table where I could see 
what was going on in the different parts of the con- 
gregation, when Brother Rippey, the presiding elder, 
looked up at me and said, "They will have to get a long 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 361 

pole if they stir that fellow to the bottom," referring 
to me on the table. Though this meeting had to 
close, the work did not cease. Meetings were or- 
ganized for the young men and other classes, which 
were continued to great profit, and there were still 
other conversions reported in these social meetings, 
and at least two young preachers were developed here 
who have since become quite useful. 

My next meeting was at Farmersville, with Rev. 
E. H. Casey. It will be remembered that I had 
helped Brother Casey in a very successful meeting 
at Sulphur Springs the preceding year, and hence he 
was acquainted with my methods. In these meetings 
we had secured the services of a young man to play 
the piano for us, which added very greatly to our 
music ; and besides the piano and organ, we were 
favored with the presence and services of two cor- 
netists and one or two violinists with their respective 
instruments. Brother Anderson was also with us, as 
well as Brother Phillips. So we had a full team. 
No wonder we had success, with such a band of con- 
secrated workers as the above, for every one men- 
tioned was soul and body in the work, full-fledged 
Christians. Indeed, the cornetists, violinists, and pi- 
anist were all converts of the Nevada meeting, and 
hence were fully enthused in their work. There were 
seventy odd additions to the Church in the Farmers- 
ville meeting. As to ingathering, the results were not 
so large, however, as they should have been with the 
material we had to work with. I am sure we some- 
times had seventy-five to a hundred penitents at the 
altar at different times. There was a dentist at Farm- 
ersville who, although he was a member of the Meth- 



362 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

odist Church and was taking considerable interest in 
the meeting, had only a little while before won a fine 
gold watch in some game of chance, which had caused 
a considerable amount of criticism and which was 
then being used as an influence against the meeting, 
since he was making himself so prominent in the work. 
So an exhortation was given on this line, and such 
practices as raffling and all sorts of questionable things 
of the kind were excoriated and denounced. At the 
next service this dentist stood before the congregation 
and openly confessed his wrong, although nothing had 
been said directly of his personal act in this matter; 
and he handed the watch to Brother Casey, to be 
used for missionary purposes or otherwise, as he 
might choose. He said he had never worn the 
watch, and could not conscientiously do so, as his 
conscience had condemned him ever since it had 
been in his possession. The conscience is a pretty 
good monitor, if one will only follow its dictates 
perfectly. It will, if not abused, invariably reprove 
sin and condemn wrong. 

A special subject was announced for a certain hour 
one day, and everybody was invited to hear the sermon. 
A Christian physician met his Hebrew neighbor and 
asked him to the service. He came, and was so well 
pleased with the meeting that, he invited the doctor 
into his store that afternoon and made him a present 
of a fine hat for having invited him to the service. 
These and many other influences were the means of 
bringing about the rich results already recorded. It 
was in this meeting one afternoon that a young man 
of a Presbyterian home was converted and waved his 
hands over the congregation, saying: "These are the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 363 

prettiest folks I ever saw." He was simply looking 
through new glasses. The children of the different 
congregations were being thus converted, and the va- 
rious Churches built up in spirituality and in num- 
bers ; yet frequently ministers of other denominations 
would try to ignore us in the work, except to gather 
in all the members possible. At one of these meetings 
a minister whose home was in the town, but who had 
not found time to come about the meeting, gathered 
up a class and announced an hour privately for 
their reception and received them before we had ever 
offered an opportunity for people to join the Church 
at all. But his own members criticised him so aft- 
erwards that he was almost compelled to come to 
the meeting and take part in self-defense. We had 
witnessed such things before on similar occasions. It 
is interesting to see such a one forced to yield to 
the manifest power of the Holy Ghost. Such peo- 
ple need to be taught such lessons by being made 
to feel their own littleness and insignificance in 
the presence of the on-sweep of the kingdom of God. 
Many other things might be written here, but I must 
pass on to a record of other victories at other places. 
The next meeting was at YVylie, Tex., and resulted 
in the conversion of at least fifty souls, and more than 
forty were added to our roll of membership. It was 
here I first witnessed a Campbellite preacher of some 
prominence working among penitents, talking to them, 
praying for them, and shaking hands with them 
like other Christians ; but I have seen this since 
at other places. A leading physician here, who had 
been very wicked, became interested and was quite 
penitent. One of his former associates in sin wrote 



364 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

him a letter full of ridicule, asking him if he had de- 
cided to join the company who expected to wear long 
white gowns in some pretty parlor in some unknown 
country, and a number of other irreverent questions. 
The doctor brought the letter to me and asked me to 
answer it for him, as he had never given such sub- 
jects any consideration. I have always believed that 
God, in answer to prayer, aided me directly in writ- 
ing this letter in answer to his bundle of trash, as 
the answer seemed to settle certain questions in the 
physician's mind as well as to stop this blatherskite 
from his ridicule. Strange, anyway, that one should 
not be satisfied with his own wicked life, if he chooses 
to live so, without trying to lead some one else to 
perdition with him; but such is the case always, and 
such can always find a following. 

The meeting over at Wylie, Whitewright was the 
next "seat of war," and I was by no means as well 
organized for this new campaign as at the places men- 
tioned above. Still the Lord was with me and gave 
success to the preaching of the word. Of all the 
helpers mentioned in the other meetings, I had only 
Brother Phillips with me here, and it soon became 
evident that he could not remain without a good deal 
of friction, as there was some home talent there for 
the service of song, and the people began to complain 
at once of the needless expense of having to pay for 
help from abroad when they were prepared to do this 
work without such help and expense. It was a real 
cross for me to inform Brother Phillips of these com- 
plaints, as this had occurred twice before, and he had 
become very much offended at me on one of these 
occasions when I mentioned the matter, which was 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, 365 

really as great an affliction to me as it could have been 
to him. But Brother Phillips was extremely sensitive, 
although he was otherwise a noble, good fellow; and, 
on the other hand, the people are usually scrupulously 
careful when it comes to the question of expense with 
reference to Church affairs. I mustered up courage, 
however, and told Phillips what was going on, and he 
left the meeting at once. So I was left alone, so far 
as my former helpers were concerned. But, as stated 
above, I had the home help. Then the pastor, Rev. 
J. A. Stafford, was a very earnest worker, and one, 
too, who put great stress on the promises of God 
and seemed very confidently and steadfastly to claim 
a victory; and he was not disappointed, for the Lord 
"sent us help from the sanctuary and strengthened us 
out of Zion." 

We were already in the midst of victory and 
many were being saved when, to the great strength- 
ening of our forces, Charlie Byron, the converted 
clown and a veritable flame of fire in the work of 
soul-winning, came into our midst. He could preach 
and sing and shout almost at the same time. He 
was a poet, and had already during the short time 
he had been a Christian composed more than forty 
beautiful songs, one of which was "Diamonds in the 
Rough," and he could sing these almost to perfec- 
tion. He was indeed a very wonderful man. His 
experience was very striking and had a fine effect 
when related. It ran about as follows : He was serv- 
ing as clown in Sells Brothers' show, and the show 
was at Fort Worth, Tex. They had presented their 
show in the daytime and were as usual to repeat the 
performance at night. Byron was partially dressed 



366 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

in his clown's suit and was awaiting the hour when he 
walked out alone for a stroll on the street. Hearing 
singing in a certain locality, he turned in to see what 
was going on, as he had no other special way to spend 
the idle moments, and when in and seated he found 
himself in the midst of a religious meeting. His 
mind ran back over the years to his childhood days, 
when his mother, who was a Christian and a Meth- 
odist, was accustomed to take him to church with 
her, and as he began to reflect he thought how changed 
he was. It was the "Bethel Mission" he was in, 
and he had been seated but a short time when some 
Christian women approached him and asked him if he 
was a Christian and inquired about his mother and 
several things, which caused him to think even more 
seriously about the life he was living, and which led 
him to surrender his heart to God and separate him- 
self from the show after that night. The managers of 
the show sued him for a breach of contract and had 
him put in jail, but he was helped out by others and 
went to work in the mission. He had been getting 
large wages for his work in the circus, but gave all 
this up and began work in the mission for the pennies 
that were contributed from time to time by those 
who felt disposed to give anything to this cause, as 
this was all voluntary on the part of those who gave. 
Charlie Byron as a "poet" had composed two thou- 
sand comic songs on the devil's side, but had, as has 
been stated, turned this talent in this new direction 
and had given to the Church a large number of beau- 
tiful songs when I met him and heard him preach and 
sing and shout. With Charlie Byron's help and the 
unwavering faith and consecrated efforts of Brother 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 367 

Stafford, and also a well-equipped choir, we were 
under God enabled to score a victory for Christ, al- 
though our start here was not at all promising. At 
least one hundred were converted and added to the 
Church. The work was glorious, and I was strength- 
ened for future work in other fields of labor. 

A week or ten days must be spent at home with 
loved ones before going to the next place. 



CHAPTER LXII. 

More Revivals in 1896. 

My next engagement was at Lone Oak, Tex., where 
I spent two weeks with Rev. I. S. Smith, who was 
one of the most indefatigable workers I ever met. His 
work was not altogether confined to the Church, and 
yet it was all for the Church. He spent a good deal 
of time in improving and beautifying the parsonage 
with the labors of his own hands, and the parsonage 
had been built during his ministry there by his own 
personal efforts. Besides this, he succeeded in having 
a beautiful house of worship built before he left the 
charge — one that would have done credit to a much 
larger place. The truth is, when he went to the charge 
they had no parsonage, and their house of worship 
was a miserable old shack located almost entirely out 
of town. We began our meeting in this old hull, with 
the ceiling but little above the preacher's head when 
in the pulpit. Brother Smith never let up until the 
new church above described was finished, and he in 
it as pastor. He remained there his full four years. 
He served as true and loyal people as I had ever seen ; 
but they had, as I was left to conclude, simply never 
had a man of Brother Smith's style to serve them 
as pastor. I suspect that they thought it a pretty 
heavy tax to do so much in a financial way in so short 
a time; but they were all very proud of their new 
church and parsonage when they were completed. It 

(368) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 369 

was truly a good work, and one, too, which will stand 
as a monument to the memory of Rev. I. S. Smith. 

As already stated, we began our meeting in the old 
church, but soon secured the use of the Baptist church 
up in the center of town, which was a very neat house 
of worship and quite commodious. With this move the 
meeting soon took a deeper hold on the community, and 
we found ourselves in the midst of victory. During 
the two weeks spent there we witnessed a large ingath- 
ering to the Churches. The pastor of the Baptist 
Church came in at the close of the second week to fill 
his regular appointment, and I was present at his serv- 
ice on Saturday when he received twenty odd grown 
persons into his Church in one class. He seemed very 
much gratified to find such a work in progress in his 
church, even if it was being conducted by Methodist 
preachers ; and I was treated very kindly by his people 
as well as by our own. My home while there was 
at the parsonage. Our pastor's wife was a Campbell- 
ite up to this time, but during this meeting united with 
the Methodists with her preacher husband. Of course 
he was very happy over this, although he nor any of 
us had troubled her on this line. Her act was volun- 
tary, and was appreciated so much the more on his 
part and the part of the Church. She was a splendid 
little woman, but did not live very long to comfort her 
husband's life, as she died in their next charge; and 
Brother Smith for some cause located. I have lost 
sight of him, but will ever remember him and his faith- 
ful little wife for their unstinted kindness to me while 
in their home and charge. Many things more might 
be said here of Lone Oak and her' people ; but as I 
made another visit to this place, which will be recorded 
24 



370 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

in its place, I will pass for the present to other charges 
and things. 

The next work was at McKinney, where we had 
rather a hard pull of it from start to finish. True, 
seventy-three conversions and reclamations were re- 
ported during the meeting; but this was accomplished 
through many discouragements. Brother Martin re- 
ceived a good class into our Church there, howev- 
er, and seemed pleased with the work. I shall nev- 
er forget a Brother Fleming of this place, who was a 
large man and quite strong, a member of the Church 
and of the choir, and a fine bass singer. He got hap- 
py one day in the service and went down one aisle 
and up the other, blowing and puffing like a steam 
engine. He would fairly shake the house when he 
would turn loose. I had never witnessed anything just 
like it. I never saw his equal. Everybody had the 
utmost confidence in him, as his life was above re- 
proach — and this, too, notwithstanding he was in the 
livery business. One can carry on any honorable busi- 
ness and yet be a Christian. Here again I saw a 
Campbellite preacher of note work among the peni- 
tents, and he did a deal of good in this way, as he was 
so courageous and was also above reproach. He would 
work anywhere and any way for the Lord, and the 
people had great confidence in him, as he was open 
and frank. Dr. Talmage once said : "If one would have 
friends, he must show himself friendly." I have found 
it so. 

Brother Allison, who lived here at this time, and who 
had formerly, as I was informed, been quite dissi- 
pated, had been previously converted, and was now 
an earnest worker in our meeting, and did us fine serv- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 371 

ice. This was another example of the transforming 
power and influence of the grace of God. As is writ- 
ten: "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, 
and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: 
and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlast- 
ing sign that shall not be cut off." "Beauty for ashes, 
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise 
for the spirit of heaviness ; that they might be called 
trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that 
he might be glorified." Brother Allison's wife and 
two sweet daughters w r ere all devoted Christians, and 
seemed very much rejoiced at this great change that 
had come into his life. My associations while at Mc- 
Kinney and the friendships formed were of the most 
pleasant character, and I treasure them with fond 
recollections. 

After this I was in a meeting of four weeks' dura- 
tion at Greenville, my home town, where I preached 
to hundreds of people in a large tent and witnessed 
the conversion of one hundred and twenty souls. While 
this was good, it was not nearly equal to what ought 
to have been accomplished with the great amount of 
material in reach. Rev. J. F. Alderson, who is con- 
sidered one of the strongest preachers in the North 
Texas Conference, was our pastor here at the time, and 
manifested great interest in the meeting; but was not 
satisfied with the results. I was very much drawn to 
Brother Alderson while at Greenville on account of 
his great kindness and words of sympathy when I was 
"passing under the rod," of which more will be writ- 
ten hereafter. 

Another special feature of the above meeting which 
caused it to make a more lasting" impression on my 



372 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

mind was the fact that it was the last meeting at home 
that the mother of my children ever attended with us. 
She began from about this time to decline more rap- 
idly. She had attended the McKinney meeting with 
me just previously and was with me at Rockwall and 
Royse afterwards, but this was the last home meet- 
ing. 

This work finished, I was off to Rockwall to as- 
sist Rev. J. Marvin Nichols. His was also a tent 
meeting. Some of his people had opposed the move- 
ment as to securing a tent, declaring that the church 
was large enough to hold all the people who would 
attend, and that it was therefore a needless expense to 
rent a tent, etc. But encouraged by others, the tent 
was secured, with a seating capacity of fifteen hun- 
dred, while the church would have held only five or 
six hundred at best. The place selected for the meet- 
ing was on the corner of the Public Square, in the 
center of the business part of the town, and it was only 
two or three days before our large tent was filled, as the 
interest was good from the beginning. A little later 
the tent was overflowed, and there was no room for 
the people. An additional tent was secured, with 
seating room for another thousand, and this was 
also crowded. Then wagon sheets were brought into 
service and put around these large tents, and the work 
went on until we were preaching to a multitude of 
people. They were in regular attendance from seven 
counties, and before two weeks had passed we had 
received two hundred and thirty-three into the 
Methodist Church, besides those who had given their 
names for other Churches. The officiary of the town 
and the business men had been brought in, and the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 373 

whole country round about was astir for Christ. Many 
very pleasant recollections linger with me as to this 
great work which I should like to give the reader in 
detail ; but I would hardly know where to start or 
where to leave off, the incidents were so numerous. 
One woman asked us to pray for her children ; said she 
had a ''quantity of them." Another woman said she 
was sure she would meet me in heaven — "that is, if I 
ever got there." Well, of course I hope to get there. 
But so many things occurred, some amusing and some 
serious, that I prefer to pass them unless I could men- 
tion them all. 

Among the noble men and women whom I met 
in these meetings none showed me greater kindness 
than W. H. Atherton. He was truly a good man, and 
I am due him a debt of gratitude I fear I shall never 
be able to pay. The mention of his name also reminds 
me that I saw a mule at his home that he had owned for 
forty-five years, and he had a violin which bore the date 
1579 carved on the inside of it, thus showing it to be 
three hundred and seventeen years old. 

When the meeting was over at Rockwall we moved 
our tent to Royse, a distance of nine miles, in the same 
county and on the same railroad, and held another two 
weeks' meeting, which resulted in adding one hundred 
and seventy more to the membership of the Methodist 
Church. It was almost as great in proportion as the 
Rockwall meeting, considering the difference in popu- 
lation of the two towns. Rev. Z. V. Liles was the 
preacher in charge and showed me great kindness while 
there. I shall always remember him gratefully for his 
manifest sympathy for my sick wife, who was with me 
there and who was barely able to attend any of the 



374 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

services ; but Brother Liles treated her so tenderly as to 
make it possible for her to attend more than she could 
have done otherwise. May the Lord reward him ac- 
cording to his good deeds ! Several old men had fig- 
ured in some of these meetings very much to the ad- 
vantage of the good work. Uncle Elias White, Broth- 
er Stimson, Dr. Brockman, Brother McClure, Brother 
Atherton, and last, but not least, old Brother Galiger 
were only a few of those who did us good service, and 
whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 

Brother Galiger's name recalls some very pleasant 
and sometimes amusing memories. He got in "the 
swim" and went the rounds with us in several meet- 
ings. He was tall and straight as a reed, and rather 
handsome for an old man. He had a pleasing address, 
and when he would get up to testify, which was fre- 
quent, he would begin to laugh, and he would laugh 
and laugh and laugh until everybody in the congrega- 
tion would become religiously amused and join him in 
the laugh; and it was sometimes hard to check this 
spirit so as to go on with the service. It was not un- 
frequent that Brother Galiger would sit down without 
saying what he intended to have said, so that the oth- 
ers could proceed with the testimony meeting. One 
day he got into a spell of laughing, and finally said: 
"Well, bless the Lord, you'll just have to let me have 
my laugh out." The leader responded: "Let her go, 
Galiger." It is a little peculiar as to the different ways 
in which people will manifest their religious feeling. 
Some will take it out in crying, others will shout, 
while others just as good will laugh, as in the above 
case. Different manifestations, but the same spirit. 
The writer has always preferred any kind of demon- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 375 

stration to that of graveyard stillness, as one repre- 
sents life, while the other is a picture of death. The 
noise in Ezekiel's vision of the "valley of dry bones" 
was the first sign of life. Before there had been the 
stillness of death, and hence no living army to do 
battle for God. But after the noise and shaking under 
the preaching of the prophet, there stood up a living 
army. So I never felt like checking Brother Gali- 
ger in laughing, nor any one else in any other sort of 
religious demonstration. I remember that the Sav- 
iour once said: "If I command these to hold their 
peace, the rocks will cry out." The Lord's name will 
be praised, and according to the teaching of his word 
he seems specially pleased when his people speak his 
praises, as they are so often commanded to do. 

When the meeting was over at Royse, where I had 
been associated with some of my lifelong* friends 
— to wit. Minor Bounds and his brother Patrick — and 
where I had formed some other very pleasant friend- 
ships, and after a few days at home, I went to Van 
Alstyne to assist Rev. Dr. Carroll, with whom I had 
worked before in the great meeting at Greenville. The 
meeting at Van Alstyne was moving off gloriously and 
thirty-seven had already been received into the Church 
when I was called home by telegram. 

After this I was engaged in good meetings at Mt. 
Vernon, Josephine, and a day or two at Tate, Tex. 
I was compelled to go and come almost daily to and 
from these meetings on account of the condition of my 
wife, who by this time seemed to be rapidly declining, 
although she was still able to be ,up ; but it was soon 
evident that she was going down with that dread dis- 
ease, consumption. 



376 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

The meeting at Josephine was largely attended. By 
reference to the map the reader can see that all the 
meetings of this year, beginning with the one at Ne- 
vada, have been within a radius of twenty-five miles 
from home, except the one* at Van Alstyne, and that 
Rockwall, Royse, Nevada, and Farmersville are all in 
striking distance of Josephine ; hence the extra attend- 
ance at the last-named place. Especially was this 
true on the last Sabbath, as we had announced an all- 
day meeting, with dinner and supper on the ground — 
regular camp meeting style ; and as this had been pret- 
ty extensively advertised, there were throngs of peo- 
ple from all the above-named and other places, as well 
as a general attendance from the country round about. 
I had a goodly number of invitations to dine with 
friends ; but as there seemed to be no evidence that 
there would be any coffee served on the ground, I did 
not make any definite engagement with any one of 
them, as I felt compelled to have my usual cup of cof- 
fee. So when the dinner hour was announced I 
slipped off to a house where I felt sure there would 
be this additional luxury; but when I was invited 
in to dinner I was informed that no fire had been 
kindled there and that I would have to satisfy my- 
self with a cold dinner all around, and hence there 
would be no coffee. My disappointment was some- 
what painful, but of course I had to make the best of it, 
and "eat what was set before me, asking no questions. " 
The afternoon services passed off all right, however, 
as I preached with as much freedom as usual without 
the coffee that I had imagined I needed so much. When 
the hour came for the evening meal, I struck off again 
for a place where I could secure a cup of this beverage ; 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 377 

but by the time I entered the house where I had gone 
I was invited out to lunch, and found nothing but 
some ice cream and cakes, which were simply delicious ; 
but still no coffee was served, and so I would have to 
try the third sermon for that day without having been 
thus refreshed. But as I again got through very well 
and felt no special inconvenience from this priva- 
tion, I was about to decide that I had suffered my- 
self to become enslaved to a habit that was not special- 
ly necessary, and was almost resolved to quit it. This 
was the closing day of the meeting at Josephine, which 
had been a very good one, though not equal to some 
others. 

After a day or two spent at home, I went to Mt. 
Vernon to spend a week with Brother Beckham and 
his people. It will not be forgotten that I was now 
working under the disadvantage, so far as the work 
itself was concerned, of having to make visits 
home almost daily. Still the Lord was with us in the 
work, giving a degree of success. One evening at Mt. 
Vernon I had retired alone to the secret grove for a 
season of prayer. While I was thus engaged several 
little boys, ranging, I suppose, from eight to fourteen 
years of age, came near where I was, although they 
had no knowledge of my presence there, smoking 
cigarettes. They all seemed to be taking part, from 
the least to the greatest, and were talking to each 
other as though this were their regular habit. As 
I had already at this same place seen young men going 
home with the girls at night puffing cigarette smoke in 
the young ladies' faces as they went, I thought I could 
see a darker future for these young people if there 
could be no check to this very hurtful habit; but this 



378 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

seemed hardly possible with such home influences, as 
some of the women would sit up in the tent where we 
were holding our meetings and dip snuff together be- 
fore the public. I do not say that they all did this by 
any means ; but a good many did, and the example was 
thus before the young people and children. So on the 
following day I was paying my respects to these prac- 
tices when it recurred to my mind that I was given to 
a habit that was controlling my life to a great extent, 
and that had so recently been proven to be useless. So 
standing before the congregation and hesitating only 
long enough to consider the stand I was about to take, 
I said: "Young men, I've got a habit that is controlling 
my life to some extent at least ; but if you will quit the 
cigarette habit, I'll quit this." I then turned to Mrs. 
Dr. Fleming, at whose home I was stopping, and 
said: "Sister Fleming, you need not make me any 
more coffee. I've quit." With this a young lawyer 
present arose and said: "Well, I'm done." Still an- 
other reached in his pocket and took a bunch of ciga- 
rettes and threw them out. Thus the work went on. 
For thirty months I did not touch coffee or tea. Not 
that I regard the use of these as any particular sin — 
indeed, I think a proper use of either is very benefi- 
cial — but I had become a slave to the habit, and did not 
like to be controlled in this way. And then, more than 
this, I wanted to save those boys and young men from 
a worse habit by my example and influence. 

The meeting at Mt. Vernon was good, as a large class 
was added to the Church and the membership greatly 
strengthened. Still the work was not as far-reaching 
in its influence and effects as the one I had held there 
the preceding year. There were some decided influ- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 379 

ences against me this time that I did not have then. 
Among other things, there was a different pastor in 
charge this time, who, although he had invited me there 
himself under pressure, was not at all in sympathy 
with evangelistic work, and said one day publicly and 
in my presence that he felt that he was no more in that 
meeting than a notch on a stick and the stick thrown 
away, although I had made special effort to keep him 
in the front and to magnify the office of the pastor be- 
fore his people. It is simply wonderful how preju- 
dice and jealousy can control even a minister of the 
gospel when it is given full play. I have witnessed 
much of this in my time and have seen its disastrous 
effects, though I am glad to say that in the main I 
have found our Methodist ministers free from this and 
easy to work with. I do not say here that this pastor 
was not a good man and true ; but he had suffered him- 
self to become unduly prejudiced on this particular 
line, as many others have done. 

As already stated, after this I spent two or three 
days at Fate with Brother Liles, returning home at the 
end of each day on a midnight train. The condition of 
my wife had now become so serious that I told the 
brethren I was going to quit, and for four months I 
waited and watched with my loved one, hardly leaving 
the yard during this whole time. It was a season of 
great anxiety. 

Soon after I came home to remain the Greenville 
holiness camp meeting began. This was the second 
meeting held at this camp. Dr. H. C. Morrison and 
Mrs. Snell were the leaders, with some others to ren- 
der such assistance as might be necessary. It was 
truly a great meeting. I attended only two or three 



380 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

services, however, although it was right near our house. 
One time I drove out with my wife, and drove round 
near enough for her to sit in the buggy and hear the 
sermon, this being the last public service she ever at- 
tended on earth. She enjoyed it as much as one could 
under such circumstances. She was in full sympa- 
thy with the holiness movement, although she had nev- 
er professed the experience. She and our daughter 
had attended the first camp meeting here, a year pre- 
vious to this, and were very thoroughly impressed with 
the power manifest among these people. 

The night following the day Mrs. Kilgore was with 
me at the meeting I walked out to the camp. Some 
burglars came to our house, walked through the 
hall, and carried off my valise, together with my dress 
coat, which was hanging on the wall. They opened 
the valise and left it open a few hundred yards from 
the house, taking the contents and the extra coat with 
them. This gave us a scare, and I did not leave the 
house any more. 

This meeting resulted, they said, in nearly three 
hundred conversions and reclamations and sanctifica- 
tions. 

The people of Greenville were very kind to us during 
our protracted afflictions. After four months my 
precious wife left us for her home in heaven. After 
sending messages of love to a number of her friends 
on the last evening and giving the children parting 
words of advice, she turned to me, saying : "Bring the 
children to heaven with you." Then she added : "Sing 
'Blessed Assurance' at my funeral." Having said that, 
she could talk no longer, but did say: "They know 
the rest ; tell them to meet me in heaven." These were 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 381 

her last words with reference to her departure ; and 
after a few hours' lingering she passed to her reward. 
It did not seem possible for me to keep house longer 
under the circumstances, and we broke up and scat- 
tered, which made it necessary for me to dispose of 
our little home. Indeed, this would have been almost 
a necessity anyway, as all this time had been spent at 
home with very heavy expense, and not a cent of in- 
come from any source, and it would be necessary for 
me to have all the means at my command to meet these 
new conditions. Hence a heavy sacrifice was made 
in the sale of the home — and this, too, when I was do- 
ing my best to make ends meet. All these changes were 
soon effected, however, to the best advantage possible, 
and I was in the field again. Of course all former en- 
gagements had been canceled, and I had to begin anew. 
During the remainder of this year I Ssisted in lit- 
tle meetings at Quinland, Emory, and Weston, Tex., 
and at all these places the Lord gave us a good degree 
of success; but there was much shadow. No one can 
appreciate this, however, except those who have passed 
through similar experiences. The year of "trials and 
triumphs" is ended, however, and I will soon embark 
in a new one. I thank the Lord for the great victories 
he- has given me in the work of soul-winning, as re- 
corded in these pages, and for his sustaining grace dur- 
ing the hours of anxiety and final bereavement, as well 
as for the inspiring hope of a sweet reunion with loved 
ones beyond the grave. With all the new experiences 
I will pass out into the years that may be yet allotted 
to me with a stronger determination than ever before to 
do his will. I pray that his grace may enable me to 
be more than courageous through his name. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 

Indian Territory and Oklahoma. 

In the beginning of the new year, and in com- 
pany with Brothers Phillips and Anderson, I went 
to South McAlester to assist our pastor there in a 
meeting which had been planned some time before. 
The weather was cold to begin with; and as our new 
brick church there was not completed on the inside 
and could not be occupied in severe weather, we se- 
cured the opera house at a cost of twenty-five dollars 
a week ; and as we used it three weeks, the full cost 
was seventy-pve dollars. Without any sort of doubt, 
it was the nicest room for a meeting of this kind I 
had ever used. Besides the use of the room itself, we 
had the services of their janitor and what coal we 
used in the furnace all thrown in, which made it very 
reasonable ; and as we had right of way, no theatrical 
troupe could come in during our meeting to disturb 
us. I never saw a better start in a meeting than we 
had here. Scores were evidencing a desire to be 
saved, and some had already been converted. But in 
the midst of this good outlook we were visited by 
one of the worst blizzards I ever saw. The cold con- 
tinued until our meeting was entirely gone, and we 
felt that we could not rebuild it at this late stage with 
such heavy expenses on us as we were carrying. 
True the daily contributions had kept us up with our 
rental expenses; but we were being entertained at a 

(382) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 383 

hotel, and having to quit as we did left us to pay our 
own hotel bill. A small collection taken for us just 
about covered our railroad expenses. But we were 
willing to leave off even at this and depend on the 
next place to help us out of trouble. 

Notwithstanding the above disappointment, we had 
some very pleasant experiences at South McAlester, 
and therefore remember the place and people quite 
pleasantly and feel assured that things would have been 
different every way had the weather been more propi- 
tious. Brother Phillips became very much infatuated 
with a young lady there, and none of us blamed him 
in the least, as she was quite attractive and accom- 
plished and seemed in every way worthy ; but after a 
lengthy correspondence this, like our meeting, also 
proved a failure. It was not long before I began to 
look out on this line myself, and I suppose, like most 
widowers, acted the simpleton and did some very 
foolish things. I have often thought and said that 
no one could show so much weakness or render him- 
self so ridiculous as an old widower, and I suppose I 
was by no means an exception to the rule. It would 
not be profitable to record all the foolish things one 
does, but those who have ever been or are now widow- 
ers know something of what I am saying. A man will 
look with a sort of feeling of contempt on others who 
are acting thus, and imagine that he himself would try 
to have some sense if left in such a condition; but 
when it comes his turn to be so unfortunate he will 
outstrip all his brethren in the manifestation of folly, 
and for a time at least cripple his influence. But, in- 
fluence or no influence, he will push his cause. Such 
is life and such is the weakness of man. 



384 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

During my stay at South McAlester I received a 
letter from a Campbellite preacher at Purcell, Ind. 
T., to come there and conduct a union meeting for 
the various Churches of the town. The invitation 
had the signatures of all the pastors of Purcell except 
one; but the movement was being led by this Camp- 
bellite preacher, who was quite spiritual himself and 
would not hesitate to work among -penitents. He had 
witnessed my work at another place in Texas and had 
recommended me to these pastors at Purcell. I ac- 
cepted this invitation, and went there direct from 
South McAlester and spent two weeks witness- 
ing a very great work of grace. The meeting 
was held in the Presbyterian church (Old School), 
and I was entertained in the home of the pastor of 
this Church. I expected to find everything stiff and 
starchy there, and rather dreaded the experience, but 
was never more agreeably disappointed in my life. 
There were only the husband and wife, but I told 
them they had as much life as a crowd of children 
and kept up about as much noise. This was Rev. Mr. 
Fisher and wife. To say my stay there was pleasant 
does not halfway express it. It was simply delight- 
ful. Our victory at Purcell was great. Many were 
saved and added to the Churches. The people came 
to the services through all sorts of weather, and the 
place of worship was always crowded to overflowing. 

When through at Purcell, I went to Norman, Okla., 
and spent two weeks. The meeting at this place 
was good, but not equal to the one at Purcell, al- 
though a large class was received into the Church. 
I was very kindly entertained while there, and in 
the main my visit was made quite pleasant. Here 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 385 

again I witnessed the conversion of another girl 
who had been drawn away from chastity and purity, 
but who had become tired of the life she had been 
living. Here again there was a tremendous scare on 
the part of the women en account of the coming in of 
this fallen girl. It was all right for debauched men 
to be redeemed, but one of their unfortunate sisters 
must be treated with disdain or contempt, not to say 
virtually rejected from their society. A sermon 
on this line checked this spirit, however, restored 
confidence to some extent, and she was accordingly 
received. But what would her accusers have to 
say about all this later on? At Norman I made 
several visits to the country, as I had opportunity, 
and was greatly impressed with the richness of 
the soil and the vastness of the country. Truly it 
is much to be desired as a "home land." However, 
there are disadvantages there as well as advantages, 
as in all other countries. Brothers Anderson and 
Phillips returned to their Texas homes from here, 
and I went to the capital city of Oklahoma for an- 
other meeting. 

I found Guthrie to be quite a thriving little city 
indeed, with all the Churches represented. Our 
Southern Methodist denomination was at the time 
quite weak, however, although we had a very nice 
house of worship, one of the prettiest little chapels 
I have seen anywhere. My home while here was 
with Judge Lowe, Secretary of State, and right roy- 
ally was I entertained. I had an opportunity to 
visit the Territorial Legislature, which was in ses- 
sion at the time, and met many of the representatives 
of that new and growing country. The meeting, how- 
25 



386 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ever, was by no means a success. I am sure I never 
saw a harder place to move, especially under the 
leadership of a Southern Methodist preacher. As al- 
ready stated, our Church was quite weak there and 
the town was largely made up of a Northern element 
of people, who were at the time of which I write 
entirely out of sympathy with us; and our place of 
worship was located very inconveniently. Still there 
was a good work accomplished among the children. 
Brother Shanks was the pastor there, and would not 
consent for the meeting to close when it did until I 
had promised to return at an early date and conduct 
a great tent meeting in the center of the city, which 
he seemed to feel sure would be successful. With this 
arrangement I closed the work here and returned to 
Texas. After a few days spent with friends at Ne- 
vada and Greenville, I was again ready for work, of 
which I shall write hereafter. 



CHAPTER LXIV. 
In Texas and Arkansas Again. 

Immediately following my return from Oklahoma 
arrangements were effected with Rev. I. S. Smith for 
another meeting at Lone Oak, Tex., where Brother 
Phillips was with me again as chorister. This meet- 
ing continued more than a week, and resulted in sev- 
eral conversions and additions to the Church, among 
whom was an aged man who had been up to this time a 
skeptic. He was probably eighty years old and was 
widely known, and hence his change made quite an im- 
pression for good in the community. While the occasion 
was quite pleasant in many respects, there were some 
things connected with it of a very different character. 
Among the pleasant things was my stay in the very hos- 
pitable home of Rev. Dr. Coppedge. He and his amiable 
wife seemed to do their utmost to make me happy while 
with them. All that is pleasant we like to recall and 
the things that are otherwise we would be glad to for- 
get, but they must make up a part of our lives in this 
world. Thank God. there will be no such things in 
heaven ! Here again I was offered a beautiful plat 
of land in connection with the town as a building 
place, if I would make my home there, but this was 
not convenient. 

When through at Lone Oak, I went to Bellevue, 
Tex., where the crowning meeting of this year 
was held. It has rarelv been the writer's priv- 

(387) 



388 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ilege to witness such demonstrations of divine power 
as were manifest in this meeting. During the sermon 
one morning a young man came in from his farm, 
where he was at work, crying for mercy as he came. 
He made no halt at the door, but came right in and 
down the aisle to the altar, where he fell on his face, 
begging the people to pray for him. Of course the 
minister discontinued his discourse, and the service 
was at once turned into one for penitents. This young 
man was soon shouting God's praises, and a number 
of others were saved. A young lady (a Cumberland 
Presbyterian girl) arose, and with a shower of tears 
on her face asked the Christians to pray for her broth- 
er. She said she felt that her heart would burst if 
he were not saved. The brother seemed quite stub- 
born for a time, but finally yielded and became one of 
the most efficient workers in the meeting. Many oth- 
er incidents might be mentioned of equal interest, but 
I pass them. A very large number were converted 
and added to the Church. When the work was over 
and I was leaving for home, a congregation assembled 
on the depot platform and as the train pulled out sang 
"Meet Me There." 

Brother Phillips had answered a special call in 
Arkansas, and had gone to Little Rock to join an- 
other evangelist in work there' and elsewhere ; but as 
there was some disappointment in this arrangement, 
he wired me to meet him at Hot Springs, and we en- 
gaged in a three weeks' meeting there with Brother 
R. R. Moore in Central Church. Hot Springs is a 
hard place to hold a meeting, owing to the fact that 
there are so many people constantly coming and go- 
ing that one hardly preaches to the same audience a 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 389 

second time. Still there is a resident element that at- 
tends church often enough to keep up an interest, and 
in this meeting seventy odd conversions were reported 
and an equal number added to the Church. This was 
small, however, when it is remembered that Hot 
Springs claims a population of twenty thousand ; and 
besides this, one is preaching almost daily to repre- 
sentatives from every State in the Union, as well as 
people from other countries. Socially this was one of 
the most pleasant seasons of all my work in the min- 
istry, and left a sort of divine flavor in my life. It 
will be remembered that the shadows had fallen upon 
my pathway, and hence such occasions as the above 
were as "oases" in the desert. 

Leaving Hot Springs, I returned to Texas to fill 
an engagement at Archer City. The trip was via 
Fort Worth over the Cotton Belt, thence over the 
Fort Worth and Denver City to Wichita Falls, out 
on the Seymour Branch, and a distance of twenty 
miles by private conveyance. I reached my destina- 
tion on Saturday evening, and was ready for work 
on Sunday morning; but the meeting seemed not to 
have been understood, and the attendance was small. 
I found Archer City quite a small hamlet in a section 
where an abundance of small grain was grown, and 
this was in the midst of harvest time. So I had come 
a distance of six hundred miles to find the people 
absorbed with gathering in their grain. The meeting 
here was a signal failure. I remained only two or 
three days. On the last day there was only one 
lady besides the pastor and his wife in attendance 
at the day meeting; hence I did not feel al- 
together justifiable in continuing the work longer, 



, 



390 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

and so closed. The meeting did not pay the expenses 
of the trip by a good deal. On my return I stopped 
at Chico, hired a rig, and drove out to Jacksboro, 
a distance of twenty-eight miles, to see a new-made 
friend. On the way I got off of the main route, ran 
on a stump, and broke my buggy. I thought at 
first it was only the doubletree that was broken, and 
with some little effort this was spliced so as to make 
it sufficiently strong for the remainder of the trip ; 
but I had gone only a little farther when the under- 
works all gave way, having already been broken, and 
let me down in the middle of a wide stream. It re- 
quired four hours of hard work with good help to 
mend it so I could continue the journey, and this de- 
layed me to such an extent that the purpose of my 
visit was all defeated. It seemed that fate was against 
rne. On my return trip next day I lost my way 
again, and traveled several miles in a contrary direc- 
tion ; besides all this, I had to pay five dollars extra 
for the broken buggy when I reached Chico and re- 
turned the rig to its owner. So this trip had been a 
costly one all around and in every way. 

When on board the train again and en route home- 
ward to Greenville, I was greatly shocked when in- 
formed of the untimely death of my friend, Mr. Tom 
King, the Greenville banker, who had been drowned 
at night with some others. The story is too sad to be 
related here. After this I assisted Rev. I. S. Smith 
in another meeting. This time the meeting was at 
Twin Oaks, ten miles from Lone Oak, his home. 
The meeting was good. A large number professed 
faith in Christ and some were swept into the ex- 
perience of sanctification. My own experience was 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young P readier. 391 

quite varied during the entire year, and up to this time 
much of it had been quite unpleasant. Immediately 
following the last work mentioned the Holiness camp 
meeting was held at Greenville, and I attended it most 
of the time, but before it closed I left for a visit to 
Mississippi. I spent one day at Paris, Tex., and three 
days with friends at Hot Springs, Ark., on the way. 
When I reached Tupelo, Miss., I arranged with Rev. 
R. A. Meek for a meeting in his charge the following 
week; and after making a visit to my mother-in-law 
and other relatives at Eupora, I returned to Tupelo 
and conducted the meeting referred to. The work 
was good, but not altogether what we had hoped for. 
Some friendships were formed here which were very 
pleasant indeed, but many such thing last only for a 
season and leave a sadness in one's life rather than 
otherwise. 

At the close of the Tupelo meeting I went out 
and preached at Mooresville, which was one of the 
appointments on my first circuit. The people came 
to hear me from many miles around, and the 
occasion was in every way delightful. Returning to 
Tupelo the next day, I ran down to Okolona, se- 
cured a rig, and drove to Big Creek, in Calhoun Coun- 
ty, to visit my brother at our old home. This was my 
first visit to him in six years. On my return from 
there I stopped at Buena Vista, where I was pre- 
vailed upon to remain over for the Sabbath, as their 
revival meeting was to begin. On the Monday morn- 
ing following at this place I met the sweet lady who 
afterwards became my wife. During my ministry at 
Buena Vista in earlier years I had, together with my 
former wife, when we were young, boarded part of 



392 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

one year in the home of Dr. James R. Ford, and had 
been in his home often afterwards when his eldest 
daughter was about twelve years of age ; but I had not 
seen her since until I met her, a beautiful brown-eyed 
lady now in her twenty-eighth year, on this Monday 
morning at church. We dined at the same place, and 
I decided then and there to secure her heart and hand 
in the marriage relation or make her refuse my offer ; 
and I set about this business at once. Many pleasant 
hours were spent with her in arranging for this happy 
event, which need not be recorded here. My efforts 
proved successful, and we were made one during the 
following February. 

I had an engagement to hold a meeting at Vinita, 
Ind. T., immediately following my visit to Mississippi, 
but was detained from going to the place by the quar- 
antine restrictions, and remained in my native State 
during the remainder of this year and conducted 
meetings at Aberdeen, Houston, Maben, and Eupora. 
These meetings were all measurably successful, and 
many very pleasant things of a social character, and 
some quite as unpleasant, were experienced by the 
writer. During the meetings mentioned above I was 
associated with Brothers Barnes, Kendall, Anderson, 
and Gibbs, who were pastors of the charges where 
the meetings were held, and I found them all pleasant 
companions in the work. 

When the year was at an end and the new year 
had come, I returned to Texas, and, as Providence 
would have it, made the trip in company with the lady 
referred to above, who had already consented to 
become my wife. She had been called to Texas to 
witness the death of her only brother. She was per- 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 393 

mitted to be with him seventeen days before he went 
to his reward in heaven. He was a noble youth. I 
was also with him during his last days and saw him 
meet death like a hero. After this I went to Gates- 
ville, Tex., and conducted a revival of two weeks' du- 
ration for Rev. C. V. Oswalt. Here the Lord gave 
us a good ingathering of souls. Brother Oswalt and 
his noble little wife were both Mississippians and treat- 
ed me like home folks. The time was spent very pleas- 
antly indeed. 

When through at Gatesville, I returned to Temple 
and joined Brother J. M. Armstrong in a gracious 
meeting at Seventh Street Church in that city. I was 
there three weeks, and on February 15 was married to 
Miss Mary Ford, of Mississippi, of whom I have been 
writing. We were entertained after our marriage in 
the home of Mr. J. J. Booker, whose wife is a charm- 
ing lady and who succeeded in making us very happy 
while under their roof. After ten days thus spent, we 
went to Durant, Ind. T., and conducted a meeting of 
two weeks' duration and then returned to Blue Ridge, 
Tex., where an equal length of time was spent. En 
route to Blue Ridge we stopped off at Ana Station, 
Tex., and went out four miles on a visit to my sis- 
ter's, where three or four days w r ere spent very pleas- 
antly, after which the Blue Ridge meeting was held. 
At both these meetings last mentioned the pastors. 
Brothers Scruggs and Graves, seemed to be laboring 
under such discouragements that but little could be 
accomplished. It is not well to let the devil get the 
upper hand of one to such an extent as to create a 
complaining spirit, which was specially true of the 
pastor last named. He could see no good in his peo- 



394 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

pie whatever, and had nothing but abuse to offer them, 
which did not prove to be a proper remedy. Not- 
withstanding all this, however, I hope some good 
was accomplished. While at Blue Ridge we visited 
the house of my other sister and spent some pleasant 
hours with her and her family. Leaving there, we were 
conveyed to Farmersville, where we took the train for 
Greenville, Tex., to spend the Sabbath with friends 
and see my baby boy, who had been there since his 
mother's death. We took charge of him and kept him 
with us until we reached Mississippi, where we put 
him in school at Houston for a short time. 

Leaving Greenville, we went to Dallas, thence 
over the Texas & Pacific Railroad to Shreveport, and 
thence to Minden, La. At Shreveport we spent the 
night; and as the meetings at Durant, Ind. T., and 
Blue Ridge, Tex., had paid me so little, we had barely 
enough with us to pay for our night's lodging at 
Shreveport and railroad fare to Minden. We had not 
a nickel over. But arrangements were soon effected for 
a meeting at Minden with Rev. A. D. McVoy, who was 
my friend of other days in Mississippi ; and when this 
work was accomplished we had ample means to meet 
some other obligations and take us on our way to the 
next place. We were at Minden three weeks, and our 
stay there was made exceedingly pleasant in every 
particular. The Lord gave us a decided victory. A 
large number were saved. We were entertained while 
there at a private boarding house kept by Mrs. Grigs- 
by, who proved herself to be a very excellent lady, 
and our entire bill was settled for us by her brother, 
who was visiting his sisters at the time, and thus we 
were helped on our way. This young man insisted 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 395 

on doing this for us as a privilege, which we appre- 
ciated the more. 

While at Minden arrangements had been made with 
Rev. T. O. Owen for a meeting with him in his 
church at Stuttgart, Ark. ; and so, leaving Minden, we 
went to Stuttgart via Monroe, La. One night was 
spent at Monroe, which is quite a stirring town, and 
then the remainder of the trip was made through 
Southeastern Arkansas via Pine Bluff. We reached 
Stuttgart at night and were taken to the hotel, where 
we were kept until next day, and then taken to our 
home for the remainder of our time there. Brother 
Owen and his people made our stay there very pleas- 
ant indeed; but as the Spanish-American War was 
then under full blast and the excitement was running 
high, we could accomplish but little visible good in 
the meeting. It was early in the history of our work 
here that the report of Dewey's victory at Manila 
reached us. Besides this, the First Arkansas Regi- 
ment was being made up at this time, and a full com- 
pany left Stuttgart for Camp Thomas at Little Rock, 
and there was much excitement. Just here an unexpect- 
ed trial came to me. A letter reached me from my eld- 
est son, who was at the time in school at Arkadelphia 
Methodist College, expressing a great desire to join 
the army. He wanted to go to Little Rock at once as 
a volunteer. After brief consideration, however, I 
wired him to go to Little Rock, where I would 
meet him on the following Tuesday. I thought that 
possibly after talking over the matter together he 
would change his mind and return to school. Of 
course I could have prevented his going, as he was 
not of age ; but I did not wish to discourage him in 



396 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

the matter. I felt that I had as well furnish a boy for 
the army as any one else, and then I thought it proper 
to cultivate true patriotism in the heart and life of my 
son, and I have always felt that our cause was a just 
one with reference to the war with Spain. Cuba ought 
to have been freed from the iron yoke. Between the 
time I wrote my son that I would meet him at Little 
Rock and the time I was to go the company left Stutt- 
gart, and the scene was one of the most affecting 
I had ever witnessed. Strong men wept like children 
as they bade their friends good-by. This intensified 
the solicitude I had already felt concerning my son; 
but when the day came, and we were together, and I 
found him still quite anxious to go, I gave my consent ; 
and after spending a few hours with him, I kissed him 
good-by as he stepped onto the street car to leave me 
for the camp. My baby boy also was with me to join 
me in bidding his brother adieu. I had left my wife at 
the hotel at Fair Oaks, Ark., on the preceding night. 
She continued the trip on the next train to Mississip- 
pi ; and after parting with my boy, I also started for 
Mississippi via Memphis. My little son and I spent 
the following night at Byhalia with my lifelong 
friend, Rev. R. M. Davis, who was in charge of 
our Church there. The next day we continued our 
trip to Sherman, Miss., where we spent the night with 
my brother-in-law, Mr. S. H. Hall, and his family, and 
then returned to New Albany to join my wife in a 
little visit among her relatives there and elsewhere. 
Leaving her there, I continued the trip to her mother's 
home, in Clay County, and to Houston, Miss., to at- 
tend to some business which demanded my attention. 
This done, I returned to Sherman, where I was met 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 397 

by my wife, and soon afterwards we went to her 
mother's home to spend awhile, thus completing our 
first round together in the evangelistic field. We 
had been married only four months, but my wife had 
already begun to develop some alarming symptoms of 
approaching consumption, of which much may be writ- 
ten hereafter. 

Our stay at home gave me an opportunity to make 
a round in the interest of my children, as to their 
schooling, etc. As I had. influenced by the bright 
testimony of Brother Owen and others at Stuttgart, 
made a new consecration of myself to the Lord, I 
was quite anxious to get out again into the work of 
soul-winning, and it was but a little while until we 
were off for Kosciusko, making the trip in part 
through the country via Sparta, Atlanta, and Big 
Creek to Coffeeville. One week was spent at Big 
Creek and Pittsboro with relatives, after which, as 
above indicated, the trip was continued to Kosciusko. 
The purpose of our visit to Kosciusko was twofold: 
First, to open up some work in our loved employ ; 
and, secondfy, to spend some time with our pastor 
there, Rev. J. C. Park, and family, who were my wife's 
near relatives. The visit was not fruitless in either 
respect, as our stay at Kosciusko was made exceeding*- 
ly pleasant with the relatives, and doors were opened 
for some very gracious revivals on the Sallis work, with 
Rev. A. T. Buck and his people. Back of this, how- 
ever, during our stay at Kosciusko I attended the 
Columbus District Conference at Piney Grove, on the 
Columbus Circuit, where I had traveled and preached 
two years and where I met with many friends of other 
days, and on my return from Columbus I took in the 



398 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

Durant District Conference at Eupora, where I was 
entertained in the home of my first wife's sister. 
There was more pleasure associated with all these 
privileges than can be here written. Having made 
this little round among the brethren and old friends 
and relatives, I was ready for the work on the Sal- 
lis Circuit. During the second meeting, which 
was specially interesting and fruitful, a letter 
came announcing the extreme illness of my daughter 
at Big Creek, and my wife went at once to her bed- 
side and watched until I could close the work and 
follow on. She was soon convalescent, however, and 
on the way to recovery, and we were off with the 
little boys to fill an engagement with Rev. J. W. Bell 
at Houlka. I spent eight days in this meeting and 
witnessed a wonderful work. As many as twenty-two 
were converted at the altar at a single service. An 
unpleasantness arose during this meeting, however, 
as the result of our having unintentionally occupied 
the hour of a Sabbath belonging to a minister of an- 
other Church. It was their regular day at Houlka, 
and the minister became greatly offended at us for 
not having given way for his hour ; but all this was 
overcome and the above results followed. 

My next engagement was at Hebron, east of Macon, 
Miss., with Rev. J. M. Barnes. I had worked with 
Brother Barnes before, and was very glad to have this 
new opportunity of spending another time with him. 
The meeting was good, but by no means satisfactory. 
The community is made up of a good element of peo- 
ple, and they certainly know how to entertain a preach- 
er, but the spiritual tide was not very high among 
them. 



Trials and l riumphs of a Young Preacher. 399 

Other meetings were planned. I had already be- 
gun .the work at Pittsboro with a splendid outlook for 
success, when a note was sent to me by the town au- 
thorities that if I did not wish to be detained in 
the town an unlimited length of time I had better 
retire at once, as the town would be placed under strict 
quarantine restrictions that afternoon. So I put my 
grip in a wagon going in the direction of home and 
immediately followed on foot until I had gotten outside 
the quarantine limits, where I spent part of the night ; 
and, having secured a conveyance, continued the trip 
as far as Houston, reaching there about sunrise, and 
then went on home. 

The following week I responded to the call to At- 
lanta, Miss., and again was compelled to give up the 
work on account of the coming in of my son on fur- 
lough from the army, as the people of the little town 
were afraid of him because of yellow fever reports, 
and hence were unwilling for him to come among them. 
Thus I was defeated again; hence I did not attempt 
any more work in Mississippi at this time, but began to 
plan at once for some work in East Texas. 



CHAPTER LXV. 
Visits to East Texas and South Carolina. 

Equipped with health certificates, etc., I was off 
again for Texas. Owing to the strict quarantine regu- 
lations, at this time, it became necessary for me to go 
via Cairo, 111., which, as may be seen from the map, 
almost doubled the distance of the trip from Okolo- 
na, Miss., my starting point, to East Texas, where I 
had been invited to hold some meetings. My wife ac- 
companied me on this trip. Leaving Okolona early one 
morning, we first ran up to Rives, Tenn.. where we 
stopped off and spent one day and night with friends. 
The time was passed here quite pleasantly. We then 
continued the trip over the Mobile & Ohio Railroad 
to Cairo, where we crossed the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers, thence over the Cotton Belt to Shreveport, 
La., where we made connection with the Houston & 
Texas Central Railroad for Tenaha, Tex., and thence 
by private conveyance to Center, where the first en- 
gagement was to be met. 

I found Center, the capital of Shelby County, to be 
a very nice little town, and its population first-class in 
every sense of the word. Rev. J. B. Turrentine was 
in charge of our Methodist Church, and he gave us a 
warm welcome and soon made us feel quite at home. 
Although we were a day or two ahead of time in reach- 
ing the town, our presence was soon announced and 
arrangements made for the meeting to begin at once. 
(400) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 401 

At first the attendance was not large ; but after we had 
on Saturday afternoon taken some of our workers and 
held a. service of song and prayer on the Public Square, 
which attracted much attention, we had no further 
trouble as to congregations ; but, on the contrary, usu- 
ally had more than could be accommodated in our com- 
modious house of worship. The interest continued to 
increase until the whole town and surrounding country 
seemed to have been swept into the tide, and scores 
were saved. The meeting lasted two weeks ; and when 
we left we took with us a heart full of love for Brother 
Turrentine and his people. By this time arrangements 
had been made for a meeting at Tenaha; so we bade 
adieu to our new-made friends who had so kindly en- 
tertained us, and were off for the new field. 

Rev. S. M. Thompson was our pastor at Tenaha, and 
he had planned well in every way for the meeting. 
Here again the work moved off slowly at first ; but as 
the time passed the interest gathered momentum until 
there was such a stir as is rarely witnessed. Many 
shouted God's praises aloud. Large numbers were 
saved, and a great many were added to the Church. 
The success of this meeting was also, in a large meas- 
ure at least, attributable to the open street meetings 
held in the early history of the campaign. Brother 
Turrentine was with us a day or two in this meeting 
also, and we were delighted to have him. He is such 
a social man. He was stocked up with a rich fund 
of anecdotes. A sample of these might be of interest 
to the reader. He related a story of a Hardshell Bap- 
tist preacher who when he would speak of his hope of 
heaven would invariably wind up by saying that when 
he got to heaven he expected to play upon a "pessel- 
26 



402 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

tree" (psaltery) with the "ark-angels" (archangels). 
Brother Turrentine seemed to have been blessed with 
a special fitness or talent for relating such things to 
the best advantage, and thus furnish a good deal of 
fun in the social circles. Our stay at Tenaha was de- 
lightful. 

From here we went to Alto to assist Brother W. L. 
Pate in a revival meeting, where we were right royally 
entertained at the parsonage. Owing to wife's declin- 
ing health, I had written Brother Pate that it might be 
best to give us a place at a hotel ; but Sister Pate in- 
sisted that if Mrs. Kilgore was not well she would 
rather have us in her own home. We were fully 
convinced before we had been there long that no mis- 
take had been made at this point, as our good Sister 
Pate showed herself abundantly competent to meet 
every demand. Their hospitality was truly unstinted, 
and we soon learned to love them very much. Our 
meeting, however, was not so large in its results as the 
ones that had gone before ; still some good was accom- 
plished. 

It was while here that my son made his final return 
to us from the Spanish-American War, having been 
mustered out of service at Little Rock during the pre- 
ceding week. Of course his coming gave us great joy. 
He had come home on a furlough once before ; but the 
people in Mississippi manifested such fear of him, ow- 
ing to a report of the existence of yellow fever in the 
camps, that his visit could not be enjoyed, although 
we ourselves were not afraid of him ; but now that the 
war was over and he had returned for good, our pleas- 
ure was the greater. An amusing coincidence was con- 
nected with his coming this time. The principal of the 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 403 

public school at Alto was a Baptist minister, and he was 
a splendid man. He had two daughters, who, although 
quite young for the business, were assisting him in the 
school, and one of them served as organist during our 
meeting, and proved herself in every way quite 
efficient and very pleasant. We were all dining to- 
gether at the Methodist parsonage when I asked the 
mother of the organist what she would take for her. 
She replied that she supposed it would be an easy thing 
to effect a trade if I had any boys to offer, to which 
I replied that I had the very boy to suit the case, a 
young soldier, and that we would consider a trade on 
at once. I had no idea at the time that my son was 
nearer than Little Rock, a distance of three hundred 
miles, and hence was greatly surprised when I saw him 
in my audience that afternoon. The coincidence was 
the source of some amusement, and it began to look a 
little more like a sure-enough bargain when arrange- 
ments were effected for him to remain for a time in a 
drug store at Alto. 

When the meeting here was at an end Mrs. Kilgore 
and I went to Timpson, where my next engagement 
was to be met. Rev. J. W. Downs, the pastor, and Rev. 
J. T. Smith, the presiding elder, had planned the work, 
and everything was in readiness for us. We were en- 
tertained at the Jennings Hotel, and our stay there was 
quite pleasant indeed. The meeting was good. Some 
notable conversions were witnessed. Among them 
was that of a Mr. Garrison, who was a saloon keep- 
er and widely known. His conversion was powerful, 
and there was much rejoicing over him on the part of 
the Christian people of the town and community. He 
was a son-in-law of the ladv who entertained us, and 



404 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

hence we were the better prepared to rejoice with them. 
Many other incidents might be recorded as connected 
with this meeting, but I desist. 

When our work was done at Timpson we spent a few 
days at Garrison with Brother Cain and his people ; but 
as the weather was very unsettled, we could do but 
little there, and hence wound up and went to the Texas 
Annual Conference at Houston, where two days were 
spent quite profitably, as we met many of the preach- 
ers and people and heard many good things. Bishop 
Galloway's presence here made us feel quite at home, 
as he was from our own State. 

Leaving Houston, we went to Helena, Tex., south 
of San Antonio, where we expected to remain quite 
a while; but found the weather so very changea- 
ble while there that we decided the climate would not 
suit Mrs. Kilgore's condition ; and so, after a few days 
spent with friends there, we continued our trip to San 
Antonio, and thence to Temple. At San Antonio we 
consulted a German specialist as to wife's case, who 
gave us much encouragement; but her trouble devel- 
oped rapidly afterwards, and it soon became evident 
that her case was quite serious. We chose Temple as 
our home, however, and soon arranged for keeping 
house there. As I had to make a visit to Mississip- 
pi on other business, I brought my little boys back to 
Texas with me. On the first day of January we moved 
into our new quarters, and felt that we would be hap- 
py. This was our first round of housekeeping since 
our marriage, now nearly twelve months; but in less 
than one month we were convinced that Mrs. Kilgore's 
strength was not equal to this task; and hence other 
arrangements were made for the little boys, and we 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 405 

broke up and went to boarding. Before I could do any 
more work wife's health had failed entirely, so that she 
was henceforth confined to her bed. Before her con- 
finement, however, I had spent a few days at Lufkin, 
where I experienced some extremely cold weather, 
which broke up our meeting there. Then I went to 
Morgan, Tex., where, in company with my former 
singer, Ed Phillips, and Pastor G. H. Hodge, I wit- 
nessed a great work of grace, which wound up my work 
in Texas for that season. I had arranged for a second 
visit to Lufkin, but could not fill the engagement, owing 
to the above-named sickness. 

After several weeks of anxious waiting and watch- 
ing, I returned with the sick loved one to Mississippi. 
We had been expecting wife to die for quite a little 
while already, and her sister had come to us from the 
old home in Mississippi ; but as she had lingered so 
long, we thought best to bring her home again, especial- 
ly as this was her desire. So, with the consent of her 
physicians, we made the trip, after a safe run of two 
days and nights. Among her attendant physicians 
while in Texas was her own uncle, Dr. S. Q. Ford, in 
whom we all had implicit confidence both as a man 
and a physician ; still wife was delighted to reach 
home and be with her mother again, even at the sacri- 
fice of the attendance of her uncle and the attention 
given her by his noble wife. Having reached home, 
many long, weary weeks were passed before she was 
able to sit up again, and constant fears were entertained 
by us all that she would never be out again, even to 
move about the house; and in this we were not very 
much mistaken, as she continued all the remainder of 
the time for the five years which followed almost as 



406 Trials and Triumphs of a Voting Preacher. 

helpless as a babe. Most of the time during these years 
the writer experimented on various things to try to 
keep employed and at the same time be at home; 
but every enterprise seemed to fail in my hand. I 
can but conclude that the good and wise God had a 
purpose in all this for our good if we could only un- 
derstand the workings of his will, and that the reason 
for these things will finally be made plain to us. 
Among some of the benefits which seem to be evident 
at present is the development of self-reliance and in- 
dustry on the part of the children, and then the grace 
of patience and endurance has been developed in my 
own life. 

During these years I held meetings when I could 
leave home at the following places : Houston, McCondy, 
Egypt, Houlka, Pittsboro, and Una, all in Mississippi ; 
one meeting each at Jasper, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., 
and Atlanta, Ga. ; and two in South Carolina. These 
meetings were all good. Besides the above work, I 
accepted a pastoral charge in South Carolina, hoping 
to take my wife there; but when it became evident, 
after I had served the charge five months, that she 
could never go to the work, I gave it up and returned 
to Mississippi. I had already made one extra trip 
home and back since taking the work ; and as I knew 
that I could not keep this up, I thought it best to turn 
the charge over to the presiding elder to be supplied, 
which I did. My departure seemed to be regretted by 
most of the people, as they apparently appreciated my 
labors among them. I was never treated more cordial- 
ly by any people, and I will always remember with grat- 
itude and love the Caraways, the Brittons, the Heming- 
ways, the Rhems, the Jacksons, the Rileys, the Robins, 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 407 

and many others too numerous to mention, who showed 
me much kindness while there. 

One other thing in this connection I would record 
with gratitude. I had for more than ten years prayed 
to the good Lord to make it possible, if according to 
his will, for me to visit South Carolina once more be- 
fore the death of my old uncle, Reuben Hay, and also 
permit me to see Uncle Gideon Hay, who was grow- 
ing very old ; and my prayers were fully answered. I 
found them still alive and able to be up; but in 
less than six months they had both gone to their re- 
ward in heaven. I was permitted to be with Uncle 
Reuben when he left us and to remain and comfort his 
family by making them frequent visits during most of 
the year ; and my stay with them was made very pleas- 
ant, even more than I can here express. He left a 
lovely family — all in the Church but two at the time 
of his death, and these remaining two united with the 
Church under my ministry while there. Praise the 
Lord for his great goodness to me in all this ! 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

Many Changes. 

After returning to Mississippi from South Carolina 
I found it necessary to remain at home several months 
at the bedside of my wife. She rallied again, however, 
when the springtime came, and it was made possible 
for me to get out again for some more work. I joined 
the brethren in the crusade against the open saloon in 
Marshall County, Miss., in which we won a great vic- 
tory. During the above-named campaign I also as- 
sisted Rev. J. W. Anderson in some meetings near 
Byhalia, Miss., in Marshall County, where the fight 
was on. In these much good was accomplished. 

I then took charge of a work at Ashland made va- 
cant by a brother failing to take the charge when ap- 
pointed. This I served four months, when it again be- 
came necessary for me to spend my whole time at home 
for a while. After this I was enabled to hold a great 
revival at Troy. Miss., and another good meeting at 
a country church near Nettleton ; and then went home 
to remain continuously for five months, until the death 
of my wife, who had lingered with us from the time 
she developed that dread disease, consumption, more 
than five years. Her sister, Mrs. Brand, had fallen a 
victim to the same sad disease, and preceded her to the 
final home only eighteen days. They were both taken 
from the same home to their resting place in the ceme- 
tery to sleep side by side until the resurrection. The 

( 4 o8) 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher, 409 

mother, having thus followed the remains of the last 
member of her own family to the grave, still remains on 
this side the last river. 

As soon as I could round up matters there, I made 
a little visit to Pensacola, Fla., where I spent a few 
days with my eldest son, who held a position there at 
the time, and then went to Memphis, Tenn., to en- 
courage another son in his work there. From Memphis 
I went to Chattanooga, where a third son held a posi- 
tion with the Southern Hotel. It can be seen from the 
above record that my children had become scattered. 
My daughter and baby boy were at this time in North 
Carolina — daughter teaching at Littleton College and 
her little brother, Allen, in school at Warrenton. They 
were all doing nicely in their respective places, which 
was a great comfort to me. I spent several weeks at 
Chattanooga, and held evangelistic meetings at White- 
side Street Church, Sherman Heights, Ridgedale, and 
other Churches while there, and witnessed a good 
work. This was notably true at Ridgedale, where the 
Lord gave us a great victory. This work was opened 
for me by the Rev. Dr. Long, presiding elder of the 
Chattanooga District. Dr. Long and I had served ad- 
joining charges in the North Mississippi Conference 
and had worked together in meetings before, which fact 
gave me increased pleasure in this good work in his 
district. The Doctor is a grand good man, and one 
cannot be associated with him long without feeling 
that he is himself made a better man. 

About this time, however, I suffered an attack of 
la grippe, which came very near ending my life, and 
was the occasion of my making a visit to relatives in 
the Carolinas. When able to begin work again, a charge 



410 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was offered me at Roberdell, N. C, which was made 
vacant by the death of a preacher. This I accepted, 
and filled until the following Conference; and I made 
many friends in this new territory. The people were 
so kind to me that I can never forget them. The Lord 
blessed our labors together very greatly on the Rober- 
dell Circuit. While serving this charge I made head- 
quarters at Rockingham, where I preached a number of 
times at different churches, and learned to love the peo- 
ple there very much indeed. My home while at Rock- 
ingham was with Rev. Mr. Wright and family (Bap- 
tists), who treated me with great kindness and who 
hold a very warm place in my heart. It gives me pleas- 
ure to mention in this connection the names of the Ev- 
eretts, the Ledbetters, the Gibsons, the Lentzes, the 
Keys, the Thomases, the Terrys, the Garretts, the 
Smiths, and others too numerous to mention, who are 
remembered with great pleasure because of their many 
tokens of Christian friendship while among them ; and 
last, but not least by any means, our faithful and prince- 
ly presiding elder, Rev. John N. Cole, and our pastor 
at Rockingham at the time, Rev. John H. Hall, to 
whom I am due a debt of gratitude I can never pay. 
I am thankful to our Heavenly Father for having as- 
sociated me with these good men for the time men- 
tioned. 

When this year was at an end I was planning to re- 
turn to the West, hoping to be with my children more, 
when news came that Rev. Mr. Oglesby, of Aberdeen 
charge, had lost his life in a railroad wreck ; and I was 
solicited to take his place on the work for the remain- 
der of the year, which I consented to do, and took 
charge at once. There are five Churches in this charge 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 411 

— namely, Aberdeen, Biscoe, Star, Asbury, and John- 
son Grove, all on the railroad — and the charge is made 
up of the very best class of people. I can mention 
notably the Pages, the Pleasants, the Camerons, the 
Thomsons, the Masemores, the Steeds, the Asbury s, 
the Shamburgers, and many others who are loyal Meth- 
odists and devout Christians and who seem ever ready 
to respond to every call to duty ; hence a preacher finds 
it both easy and pleasant to serve them. My work here 
was crowned with abundant success, especially in a 
material way, as many improvements were made on 
our Church property, both with reference to our houses 
of worship and the parsonage. Besides this, we enjoyed 
some fine revivals, thus adding to the spiritual good of 
the charge. Many pleasant incidents and some un- 
pleasant could be recorded of the year ; but as such are 
incident to all years, I deem it unprofitable to make 
these records. It affords me pleasure to state here, 
however, that the pleasant events outnumber those that 
were otherwise by far. 

It was here that I met Miss Ella Melton, of High 
Point, N. C, with whom I was united in marriage at 
the close of the Conference year, and who is now with 
me as a true helpmeet in the gospel — beautiful in char- 
acter and consecrated to the work of the Lord. 

During these years in the Carolinas it was my 
privilege to visit Charleston, Wilmington, Norfolk, 
Portsmouth, Richmond, and other noted towns and cit- 
ies along the Atlantic Seaboard, and to see many things 
that were new and more or less novel to me, and to 
associate more extensively with my relatives in these 
States, of whom mention has already been made in 
these pages — for all of which I feel devoutly thankful 



412 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

to Him who leads and guides those who put their trust 
in Him. 

Thus we passed to another year and to other scenes 
and experiences, to be recorded in a future chapter. 
Before closing this, however, I feel that I should 
make special mention of my associations in the work 
with C. H. Key, who is one of the sweetest singers I 
have ever heard. He was with me both years of which 
record is made in this chapter, and did very efficient 
work as chorister. W. W. Gibson, of Roberdell, also 
rendered us great help in the service of song. These 
brethren are remembered for their good deeds ; and T 
hope to yet be associated with them in future work if 
it is the Lord's will. 



CHAPTER LXVII. 
To Florida Again. 

When the year at Aberdeen was at an end and its 
work finished, I went to Kigh Point to spend a short 
time with relatives, during which time I accepted of- 
fered work in Florida ; and as soon as the Christmas 
holidays were over, I went to my new field of labor. 
The route was over the Seaboard Air Line via Colum- 
bia, S. C, Savannah, Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla., to 
Ocala, and thence to Reddick, where I had been ap- 
pointed to serve. Reddick is a nice little tow n on the 
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, ten miles from Ocala, 
and is made up of a nice class of people. There were 
four other Churches in the charge — all on the railroad. 
It is an easy charge to serve, and I would doubtless 
have had a good year, but was called back home by 
serious sickness, and other hindrances came in my way 
to prevent my return to Florida. I regretted the ap- 
parent necessity of this very much, as the good people 
of Reddick had shown me every kindness possible. 
Although my stay with them was brief, I can never for- 
get the special favors conferred by Ed Rou, C. C. 
Priest, John C Dupree, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Gatrell, Broth- 
er Mayo, and others, together with those of their re- 
spective families; and besides all this, the encourage- 
ment given me by the good presiding elder there, Rev. 
Francis R. Bridges. 

While in Florida I heard Bishop Hoss deliver a lee- 

(413) 



414 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

ture on his travels in South America, which was great- 
ly enjoyed. I also spent a day or two in Jacksonville, 
where I was shown many things of interest in this 
city of sunshine and flowers. Other things might be 
mentioned as connected with my sojourn in the State, 
but I must, as already stated, leave these scenes and 
good people. 

I gave up the work and spent most of the year with 
my children at Chattanooga, as we all met there and 
spent several months together, which privilege was 
greatly enjoyed, as it had been so long since we had 
all been with each other before. During our resi- 
dence there I conducted a fine revival at Rossville, 
Ga., for Rev. Dr. Smith, and did a good deal of other 
Church work in and around the city of Chattanooga. 
We had a very pleasant home while there, and enjoyed 
the privilege of entertaining some of our relatives and 
friends. However, it became necessary for me to return 
to North Carolina, and I was soon engaged in revival 
work in this State, and witnessed some of the greatest 
revivals I had been in for several years. So this year, 
with its varied experiences, was rapidly drawing to a 
close. Many new acquaintances had been made and 
friendships formed which will linger with me as among 
the pleasant memories of life. Among these new-made 
friends none are appreciated more than Rev. Make 
Hurley, with whom I was associated in some of my 
best meetings. Brother Hurley is widely known in this 
section, and to enjoy his personal friendship is to gain 
a strong hold on a large element of people throughout 
this part of the Old North State. I might also mention 
the names of Brothers Eads, Falls, Williamson, and 
others, as well as Revs. Catron, Triplett. Williams, and 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 415 

others in connection with the Chattanooga work, whose 
companionship in the work proved a great benediction 
to my soul. 

During this year I enjoyed the long-coveted privi- 
lege of attending the great Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion, which was held in the city of Chattanooga, where 
I heard that noted divine, Dr. Hawthorne, preach a 
great sermon, and others of note in this great denomi- 
nation. It was also my good fortune this year to be 
present at the State Sunday School Convention of 
North Carolina, at Charlotte, N. C, and listen to ad- 
dresses by some of the Sunday school workers of na- 
tional reputation. In addition to all this, I had just 
passed through a great meeting (Baptist) conducted 
by the celebrated Dr. H. M. Wharton, who is truly a 
wonderful man. 

Besides the occasions mentioned in connection with 
the Atlantic States, I attended District Conferences at 
Gibson, Raeford, Concord, and Asheville, N. C, and 
Annual Conferences at Chester and Darlington, S. C, 
and at Wilson, N. C, where I made the acquaintance 
and enjoyed the wise counsel of many ministers and 
consecrated laymen of our great Church. 

Even during the brief time since I made my first 
visit here several of those with whom I had preached 
and sung and shouted in this territory had gone to 
their final home. How uncertain is life! I have not 
quite reached my half hundred years yet ; but so many 
of those with whom I have labored in this world 
have crossed the last river that I cannot avoid a feel- 
ing of sadness, and am thus constantly reminded that 
my time is not far ahead. 

Only one other incident of this year will now be 



416 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

mentioned. On our return trip from Florida one day 
was spent at Macon, Ga., in the home of wife's brother, 
Mr. J. B. Melton, who with his amiable wife and her 
sister made our visit quite pleasant, except for our 
anxiety for the sick loved one to whose bedside we had 
been called. While in Macon I made a little visit to 
the home of an old friend of other days, Mr. J. H. L. 
Gerdine, formerly of West Point, Miss., where I spent 
two years as pastor of the Methodist Church. Brother 
and Sister Gerdine seemed real glad to see me, and I 
was delighted to learn that their children, some of 
whom I had received into the Church, were leaders in 
the Church themselves — two of them serving in mis- 
sion fields in the Orient, one a presiding elder. These 
parents were justly proud of their children, and I 
rejoiced with them in the course they had taken. I 
was also pleased to find my brother-in-law, Mr. Melton, 
enjoying a good degree of prosperity. 

Now looking back over the fifty years of my 
pilgrimage, I can easily see where many serious mis- 
takes might have been avoided and many offered op- 
portunities improved which would have resulted in the 
development of the Christian graces in my own heart 
and life more perfectly and at the same time enabled 
me to have done much more good for others; but as 
we cannot live our time over again, we must let "by- 
gones be bygones," and move forward with the hope 
that the mistakes and failures of the past may be over- 
ruled for good, and that we may be enabled to profit 
by them, and thus make a successful run for the eter- 
nal city to meet with the multitudes gone before as 
well as those who come after. 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 

Two Years at Pleasant Garden and King's 

Mountain. 

As the year was closing during which the events 
recorded in the preceding chapter transpired I was con- 
ducting a successful revival for Rev. L. A. Falls at 
South Main Street, High Point, N. C. ; and it was 
here I met and was introduced to Rev. S. B. Turren- 
tine, presiding elder of the Greensboro District, whom 
I found to be a most excellent gentleman, and who 
with the influence of Brother Falls, who is also a lova- 
ble character, prevailed on me to accept a pastoral 
charge in the Western North Carolina Conference; 
and although I did not attend the session of the Confer- 
ence at Mt. Airy, I was appointed to the Pleasant Gar- 
den Circuit, where I served the following year and 
made a host of new friends. 

The year's work was crowned with abundant suc- 
cess in all lines. Soon after taking charge of the 
work I began a winter meeting, and received twenty- 
four into our Church on the Sunday of Christmas 
week. This gave me a good beginning, and I was in 
a revival all the year on the work, witnessing hundreds 
of conversions, with many added to the Church. 

Early in the year, however, I suffered a severe at- 
tack of la grippe, and thought again that my work was 
about finished. I was not able to work for several 
weeks, and resigned my charge, and another preacher 
2 7 (417) 



418 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

was appointed to fill out the year ; but in about a month 
or six weeks I had so far recovered as to take up the 
work again, and was placed in charge, the other min- 
ister being assigned to another field. This was Rev. 
J. C. Harman, a young man of excellent qualities and 
splendid attainments. While serving the work he 
boarded in our home, and we found him very pleasant 
indeed. When I offered my resignation for him to take 
charge, Rev. J. F. Craven, a superannuate minister, 
whose home was in our work, offered a resolution that 
I should be given the use of the parsonage without cost 
until Conference, and in this way I escaped the expense 
of a move and reassumed the work on the charge with 
the results already recorded. 

Before the year had closed dear Brother Craven, 
who offered the resolution referred to, died, and it was 
made my duty to preach his funeral sermon before 
a large concourse of people, and also prepare his 
memoir for the Annual Conference. His last public 
work in the ministry was at our camp meeting at his 
church, which he seemed to enjoy very much indeed. 
He was truly a good man, and lives in the hearts of 
many who knew him. 

Among the pleasant things of the year additional to 
the revivals were the Children's Day services. These 
were extra good. 

Among the good people of the charge I recall the 
names of the Tuckers, the Rosses, the Beckerdites, the 
Lewises, the Zinks, the Smiths, the Yows, the McLeans, 
the Hodgins, the Fields, the Ledbetters, the Cobles, the 
Clarks, and others too numerous to mention— all of 
whom I hold in high esteem and remember their mani- 
fold acts of kindness with gratitude. 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 419 

When the year closed, I was returned to this charge 
for another year ; but owing to some other changes, I 
was moved at the end of the first quarter and placed 
in charge of King's Mountain Station. It was no small 
battle I had to fight in deciding to leave these good 
people to take charge among comparative strangers, 
as I was battling with la grippe again; but it seemed 
the Lord's will that the change be made, and so we were 
soon in our new charge to find ourselves serving a de- 
lightful people, who are very appreciative and always 
ready to encourage their pastor. It was through the 
influence of Rev. G. F. Kirby that I was appointed 
here, and I can never forget his kindness, as the year 
has been made very pleasant for us here. Brother Kirby 
was my predecessor in this charge, and a noble fellow 
he is. I am also due a debt of gratitude to Rev. H. M. 
Blair and Mr. C. H. Ireland for brotherly advice with 
reference to this change and other appreciated kind- 
nesses. I am hoping to round tip with a good report 
for Conference. 

During the two years recorded in this chapter I 
have held additional meetings at Cedar Falls, South 
High Point, Shelby, and Rock Springs Camp Ground. 
This camp meeting was the largest I ever attended as 
to the number of tenters, there being more than three 
hundred tent holders and five or six thousand people 
in attendance. The interest was very fine — only the 
people do not plan to stay long enough to witness real 
success. 

Altogether this has been a pleasant year. In our 
home we have enjoyed the presence of some one of 
our relatives most of the time. My daughter spent her 
vacation with us, which was a great comfort to us; 



420 Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 

also two of my grown sons have visited us. The Lord 
has given us another son also, now nearly two years 
old, who has brought much sunshine into our home 
and hearts. We named him Page for that princely 
layman in our Church at Aberdeen, N. C. — namely, 
Henry A. Page. 

The name of one friend has been left out whom I 
must here mention before closing these notes, as he has 
helped me so much in accomplishing the above results, 
especially at Pleasant Garden. I refer to Prof. Oscar 
Woosley, a perfect little gentleman in every sense of 
the word. 

Other names might be mentioned and other facts re- 
corded, but I forbear, only to say that our sojourn 
in North Carolina has given me the additional privi- 
lege of visiting our national capital at Washington, 
D. C, and also making a trip through Maryland, West 
Virginia, and Ohio. This I had long desired to do, and 
the Lord made it possible for me to do so. 

Another coveted privilege has been enjoyed during 
this last year — that of attending the General Assem- 
bly of the Presbyterian Church. It had already been 
my pleasure to attend every Conference in our Church 
from the Church Conference to the General Conference, 
every convention in the Baptist Church from their 
Church Conference to the great Southern Convention, 
and I had been in all the gatherings of the Presbyterian 
Church except the General Assembly, and now this 
privilege has been granted me. 

With all the victories, privileges, and achievements 
of these closing years there have come many things 
not so pleasant. In fact, some of the most stub- 
born trials and disappointments of my life have come 



Trials and Triumphs of a Young Preacher. 421 

to me in the midst of these victories. Life is a mixed 
cup, and I suppose it should be so. Still, with all this 
I am now permitted to record these closing notes of 
my book in the midst of as good friends as I have ever 
found anywhere. It is pleasant for me to mention the 
names of the Fultons, the Garretts, the Falls, the Dil- 
lings, the Kings, the Reagans, the Mauneys, the Go- 
forths, and a host of others whose names are recorded 
in the book of life. 

My good presiding elder, Rev. R. M. Hoyle, has been 
in and out with me a few times this year, and I have 
found his companionship quite pleasant and helpful. 
Also the pastors of the other Churches here, Brothers 
Forbes, Bell, and Beach, have contributed to my happi- 
ness since coming to this charge. 

As I am closing these notes the Blue Ridge Annual 
Conference of the M. E. Church is in session at this 
place, with Bishop D. A. Goodsell, of New York, pre- 
siding. The sessions of the Conference are quite in- 
teresting, and bring a blessing to our town. They have 
some strong men, who seem quite fraternal. The Bish- 
op has impressed all here as being a great and good 
man. He is very cordial indeed. 

I must now conclude these chapters, with the hope of 
meeting many of those whose names have been men- 
tioned in its pages, and many others with whom I have 
been associated in the work, whose names could not be 
mentioned for lack of space, in that bright and better 
world above, where there will be no more trials, and 
where our joy will be full. 



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